Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee wishes to consider Bill 42, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products Tax Act; Bill 43, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act; Committee Report 31-18(3), Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Review of Bill 46, Public Land Act; and Bill 46, Public Land Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today, there are a couple of elders, Edward. I want to do a prayer for them. [Translation ends]

I would like to eulogize a couple of brothers who have passed away in Lutselk'e in the last several months. The first is Joseph Victor Catholique, better known as Joe V. Joe V is somebody who I visited often, as he lived in the senior citizens' home. He often talked about being involved in the construction of most of the houses around Lutselk'e. Most of the houses were built back when he was younger. Joe V was a carpenter. He worked here in Yellowknife on some buildings and some of the larger buildings up in the uptown core. He often spoke about how he felt, that he ended up in a small senior's apartment with his wife, Wanda, and his sons Miles and Edwin. He had built many houses himself but never ended up actually owning a homeownership unit.

Also, I would like to speak about Edward Catholique. Edward Catholique was Joe V's older brother. He passed away several months ago, also. Edward was known as Edward Cho. When he was a young man, he was a big man. He lived the majority of his life with a wooden leg, as they say. He lost his leg in an accident. It never seemed to affect him much. He was able to do just about everything. He was able to do as if he was completely able to so, even though he had one wooden leg.

Edward was a person who I visited often. Almost every trip into Lutselk'e, I would visit Edward and his wife, Mary. They were wonderful people. When I was coming into town, he would make sure he had enough dry meat for me to take back to Yellowknife. I was always interested to go visit. He had laid out all the dry meat for me and tell me, "Pick what you want out of that."

He was quite a person. He has left a wife, Mary. They, themselves, didn't have any kids, but I know he was very close to his nephew Herman. I noticed that often, when I went there, Jerry Lockhart would also be sitting with him.

I would like to pass my condolence onto their one sister, Loraine, who is left and their one brother, John, who is left. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Sandra Lockhart's family and friends in the gallery: her husband, Felix Lockhart; daughter, Rhonda Head; her grandsons, Tristan Lockhart and Logan Badger; Mika Dilon; and her friends Rachel Abel and Arlene Hache. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today, Sandra passed away on this day. I send condolences for her family and all her friends are there. [Translation ends]

Sandra Faye Lockhart was a vibrant Indigenous woman of Cree and Dakota ancestry. She was given the spiritual name of White Thunder Bird Woman by the grandmothers and grandfathers through a ceremony. She connected her spiritual name to the dramatic way in which she came into this world: her mother, alone on a traditional trail on Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan, gave birth to her.

Sandra became a citizen of Lutselk'e Dene First Nation when she married Chief Felix Lockhart, who was mesmerized by her the day that he first saw her and bumped into a table at the Red Apple when they locked eyes for the first time. Sandra was equally spellbound by the introduction to "a chief" who eventually became her life partner. When the news of their marriage was announced in the community hall at Lutselk'e, the whole hall cheered in relief that Felix was finally getting married.

Sandra had one daughter, 11 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren. She raised four of her grandchildren and was the family matriarch. Sandra's daughter Rhonda was her comfort, and their loving relationship was very close throughout their lives. Sandra was also a very creative and talented quilter. She loved cooking, too, and she would try new recipes, like turkey stuffed with lemons, which became a holiday tradition.

Sandra was a fearless activist of profound wisdom. She inspired others to think about the big picture, how we all fit into it and what we could do to make change and challenge the status quo. She was an inspirational writer and conversationalist who influenced others in her community, territorially, nationally, and even globally.

Sandra had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and openly shared the trauma she experienced throughout her life and her healing journey. Sandra was a strong spiritual woman on all levels. She was a traditionalist who smudged, participated in ceremonies, and picked and used medicines, and she loved listening to podcasts of Christian speakers.

Sandra graduated from the Aurora College Nursing Program at the top of her class and received the Helen Gibson Award presented to students in nursing who overcame obstacles. She was the first Indigenous Wellness Coordinator at the Stanton Hospital, and worked in that position for eight years. She was a founding member of the Canadian Institute for Health Research and was a nationally recognized leader in the union movement. Her work was acknowledged with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award. Sandra was enrolled in the Global Leadership Master Program through Royal Roads University until her health declined and she returned home. She will truly be missed by those who met and loved her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to just make a comment and ask another questions. My comment was: it would be good for if our government has gone to the federal government and asked for a complete exemption from carbon tax considering that between ourselves and Nunavut, we probably spend most of the year heating our house. I know that it is August here. I think we are in the middle of August. Our furnaces are on. We are starting now in August, and we are heating our houses until May. That is not normal.

I talked to a guy today who was putting a new fuel tank in my house, and he said to me, he said, "My brother moved to Edmonton, and his total utility bill in Edmonton, where he's got many options of heating his home, is $350 on average," which includes his cable TV. He threw that in. I thought to myself what a difference between what we pay up here and what they pay down south. We are 40,000 people. We are hardly responsible for climate change. We have very little impact on climate change ourselves. Okay? We do our share to reduce, yes, I agree, but I think, per person, we probably produce less greenhouse gases than anybody else, but we are asked to pay more than anyone else. For some reason or other that does not seem fair, and I think that the federal government should be able to see that, as well. What is fair about us being probably the least emitters but we pay the most for carbon tax? I am assuming that Nunavut will pay more, but I wonder if this government would consider, like, we are going to have an election soon, and, if the liberals win, there is going to be a carbon tax, and, if the unthinkable happens and the conservatives win, then we may not have a carbon tax, at all, so this government, I guess, will repeal the carbon tax if it's in place.

I am thinking about that, and I am thinking maybe if we sat down with the government and asked them if we could be exempt in the NWT from the carbon tax totally, at least that share. I mean we cannot do anything about them hauling it. That is true. The Minister is correct in that. I would like to ask the government if they would consider going back to the federal government and asking to have a complete exemption in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I will use the term "best features" of this bill. One of the best features of this bill is the fact that the fuel is rebated at the point of purchase. However, in comparison to all other costs added to that fuel on its way to your house, it becomes very substantial. I guess it is a little bit of a savings at the end, but the fact that hauling the heating fuel, we have no control over it except we have control over hauling it by barge.

I would like to ask the Minister if they contemplated not charging any extra on the cost of moving that fuel once it crosses our borders, that there is no extra cost passed on to the consumer for the hauling of that fuel, especially through barging. I know that the barging will affect one of my communities, Lutselk'e, but it will also affect a lot of communities up the valley. We actually have control over whether or not we are going to add carbon tax on the movement of that fuel by barge. I would like to ask the Minister if the government considered not charging any carbon tax on the movement of that fuel by MTS. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I was close to the business of hauling fuel into small community as the Minister of Public Works in the last government. A large cost of heating fuel was the hauling of the heating fuel. In addition to that large cost of hauling the heating fuel, sometimes they get a pretty good price buying, I think it is called purchasing off the rack or something. I can't remember the exact term. The hauling of it, the transportation of the diesel fuel was substantial.

I wonder, if we are going to rebate heating fuel at the point it is purchased, each of us, if we are on Facebook, we have Facebook friends. A lot of those guys are saying that this portion of the tax where it is rebated at the pumps or rebated at purchase is not going to be that substantial of a savings because it costs so much to haul it. If we were hauling to Yellowknife, it is a cost, but then we have to haul it from Yellowknife, also. It is okay to haul it to Hay River, but then we have to barge it from Hay River, also. The hauling, the barging, and we are barging it ourselves, I am pretty sure, through MTS. I would like to ask the government or the Minister if there is any consideration for rebating that cost, as well.

We purchase heating fuel, and then there is going to be a carbon tax on it because everybody is in a carbon tax mode. Then we pay for the haul to Hay River, and then there is going to be a carbon tax on the engines that are going to haul it to Hay River. Is there going to be a continuous carbon tax on the transportation of that fuel from Hay River to the point where it is delivered to the small communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess when you are taxing people, it is difficult to have any positive aspects. However, this bill appears to have best features. The best features of the bill seems to be that we are not taxing heating fuel or aviation fuel. I would like to ask the Minister if that includes hauling aviation fuel and heating fuel. Thank you.