Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, there's been lots of discussion on the carbon tax, whether we should let it go and let it go back to the feds. And, you know -- so when I look at it, I guess I ask myself, you know, when it comes to the residents of the NWT where many are really considered vulnerable, is the carbon tax just? The simple answer is no. Like, we're reliant here in the NWT on fossil fuels and we -- and, you know, the cost of transportation, the cost of everything, is just that much higher. And for some reason the feds don't see it. But the reality is is that the legitimacy of the federal carbon tax was upheld in the Supreme Court. So it's there and it's law. Whether or not the bill gets voted down or not, the tax stays. One way or the other it stays, unfortunately. And if the bill is voted down, the federal backstop of course will kick in but from what I gather, and in doing some research, is that we're just going to end up in the same spot. We're going to see that -- you know, we're going to see the feds maybe do the collection but they're going to give us the money back and say, here, you guys deal with it. And that's what's going to happen. And so we're just going around in a circle.

So by keeping -- I guess the other thing is is that by keeping the authority to manage the funds, we can -- you know, we can -- I would hope that this government would look at putting more funds into the smaller isolated communities up north where the costs are that much higher. In the south, we're lucky. Like, our cost of fuel and power and all that is a lot cheaper, and I would like to see, you know, more of the money go into the North and help the people who actually need the help.

Can we trust the federal government to look after our best interests? I don't think so. You know, we've got this carbon tax in place for the Northwest Territories and what have they done about it? Nothing. You know, and like my colleague said that there's very -- you know, there's -- the amount of emissions is very, very, very little here. And that's an issue.

Can we trust those on the other side to do the best? I would hope so. Because if they can't do a good job for the people of the Northwest Territories, at least us on this side have an opportunity to make change. We can change people out if we want. So I think that's important to note.

The other thing is, is that if we maintain authority over the carbon tax, there's been talk about embedding it into -- embedding the use of it into legislation on the use of -- well, what we're going to use it for into legislation like they do in the Yukon. And something like that wouldn't happen this year but it's something that we could ensure that, you know, we put it in legislation and that the money is going to where it belongs, and that's the people that are really, really having trouble.

So when I looked at this whole thing, I looked at the legality of it. I looked at what the feds would do. I look at what we're doing with it. You know, I've talked to people back home as well. And for me, you know, I'm going to support the bill because I have faith in this government more than I have in the federal government. And I'm hoping that, you know, by my support, and if the bill passes, that the Members on the other side will actually listen to what we have to say and make sure that people are looked after. And we got to focus on, you know, the cost of living. We've got to put pressure on the federal government to realize -- make them realize that the cost of living in the Northwest Territories is high. Life in the Northwest Territories is hard. And we need support. The problem is is we've only got one MP here. So they -- you know, so the NWT probably is not really on their radar. So who would I rather having looking after it? I would say this government. And that's exactly why, you know, I will support this bill. Thank you.