Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we know in the North we face the most severe impacts from climate change, and the world is looking to the North to be a leader in climate change adaptation. Climate change will continue to increase rainfall, flooding, and coastal erosion, and increasing temperatures will affect habitat, change the availability of country foods, especially meat, disrupt Indigenous subsistence, and increase the cost of living here in the territory. We cannot afford to ignore climate change, Mr. Speaker.

At the beginning of this Assembly when all members established our priorities, the Taltson Hydro Expansion was identified as a critical infrastructure project to advance. The Taltson Expansion is not only critical to support major resource development in the Slave Geological Province; it is central to achieving the objectives of both the 2030 Energy Strategy and the GNWT's climate change action plan.

This infrastructure project is the GNWT's primary solution to meet federal greenhouse gas emission targets. With estimates of generating 60 megawatts and offsetting 240,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually, Mr. Speaker, it's clear to say that without the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project, the GNWT may very well fall short of their emission goals. The GNWT's climate change action plan contains the roadmap for the NWT to meet international, federal, and territorial benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The goals include:

• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030;
• Improve knowledge of the climate change impacts in the NWT; and
• Build resilience to adapt to a changing climate.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has a number of infrastructure projects underway to facilitate achieving these goals, including Taltson. But I am concerned about the pace of the Taltson project and our ability to meet our climate change adaptation energy and cost of living goals on time. I am concerned that as we press forward with our eggs all resting in the Taltson basket, we are still unclear about where the GNWT intends to sell power, the funding supports to back this project, and whether it has the support of Indigenous governments.

Mr. Speaker, in 2019, the NWT was 16 percent below our 2005 emissions. But at the same time that our emissions were declining, so were our major mineral economies. The GNWT is working hard to promote and build our mineral resource industry but the question is, will this come at the expense of our energy strategy, or will Taltson be done in time to save the day? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.