Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. It's kind of a weird situation that we're having some debate and discussion back and forth in this kind of forum, but I think it's an important debate and discussion that the public needs to hear, and maybe we can still reach some kind of a compromise. But, you know, I guess the other thing I want the public to know is that the ability of the Regular Members to change this bill is zero. We cannot change it in any significant way. The way that it was crafted, the way that it was put together, it's a carbon copy of what happened in the last Assembly. In the last Assembly, I tried to get an amendment to the bill that would build in a requirement for public reporting, and it was ruled out of order because the way the bill had been drafted. So our ability as Regular MLAs to make any changes to this is zero. You know, as much -- and, you know, I raised this issue with the Minister right at the very beginning. I said, you know, I don't want to see a carbon copy come forward that we have no ability to change. And that's what we got. There's no room to negotiate in terms of making changes to the bill itself. And it does leave all the discretion and authority with the Cabinet. You know, I would have much rather prefer that we work collaboratively on an approach where we could have made, in our view, my view, a fair set of offsets, rebates, for all of the business communities. But that's not what we got. We got a bill that sets out a schedule that meets the federal targets, and that's about it. So our ability to change it is zero. We can't do it. We can't make any changes. We can't even insert a requirement for public reporting, separate accounting. And the Minister's right, that does happen. But it happens perhaps a little bit after the fact. It is discretionary right now. I'd actually rather see it right in the bill. And that kind of reporting should include something about the effectiveness of the carbon tax in actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As difficult as that might be at times, that should be in the bill itself. But we can't do it. We can't make any changes to it.
So I guess the other thing I want to say is while I have characterized this as a crisis of trust, that's me as an individual, and that's with regard to the carbon tax and the way that this has been done. I think I have a good working relationship with the Minister of Finance on most of the other files. Most of the other files. Perhaps we disagree on some. I'm not even going to use one word that seems to be a trigger so I'm not going to go there. But, you know, I guess -- and I just don't understand how we got to this point where we didn't find a way to work together. And I still think that there is a way for us to work together between now and March 31st, and this is the way to do it, is to sit down, try to develop a plan together that puts in the right kind of offsets. But I'm just not comfortable leaving it to regulations in the future that a future Cabinet can change. Yeah, they want flexibility, but we also want some -- a framework somehow, Madam Chair, that creates a comfort zone that we know where we're going, and we have a path forward. That's not what we have in the bill. So I think there's still an opportunity to try to work together, and I would really like to be able to do that, and I think we've made some progress. But for me, I want a legislated approach that creates that certainty, that comfort of where we're going. And I think we can do it, and I think we can do it together and still allow for some flexibility setting some of the things through regulation. But I want to know, and I think the public deserves to know, that community governments are going to get something back and it's going to be in the legislation itself. Indigenous governments are going to get something back and it's in the bill. NGOs, small businesses are going to get something, and it's in the bill. It's not left to the discretion of Cabinet in setting through regulations. That's the kind of framework that I think we need. And if you want differential cost of living, put it in the bill. Don't leave it to regulations. That's why we need a legislated approach, and I think we could do it on our own. And if we needed to, we could even do that under the federal backstop like the Yukon has done. And that's what this recommendation is about, and I want to work with my Cabinet colleagues to get this done. Thanks, Madam Chair.