LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - Greenhouse gas emission targets for the whole NWT by sectors and both long and short term goals for reducing emissions are ideas that found favour in Fort Simpson during a public meeting.

Jim Sparling, the manager of climate change programs with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, has been seeking public input across the territory on the renewal of the NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

On May 5 the village became one of the stops on a tour aimed at getting public input on the renewal of the territory's Greenhouse Gas Strategy. In each region the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been visiting the regional centre and a small community, Fort Liard in the case of the Deh Cho. "All of the people who have been coming to the meetings have been very engaged on the issue," said Jim Sparling, the manager of climate change programs with the division.

Sparling and the rest of the officials on the tour have been asking residents what changes should be included in the 2011-2015 stage of the strategy. Originally developed in 2001 and revised in 2007, the strategy's overall goals were to control greenhouse gas emissions in ways that reduce impacts on health and the environment, minimize impacts on the economy and support Canada in meeting its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Along with 39 actions designed to reduce emissions the territorial government committed to reducing emissions from its own operations by 10 per cent below 2001 levels by 2011.

"We're very much on track to meet that target," Sparling said.

New targets

Across the territory the staff on the tour have been asking for suggestions about or revisions to the strategy's 2007-2011 goals, objectives and principles. They have also been looking specifically at new emissions targets and timelines for them.

In Fort Simpson the seven people who attended the meeting agreed that the territorial government needs to continue to have its own emission reduction goals but that there also have to be goals set for other sectors in the NWT, something that was not part of the 2007-2011 strategy.

The GNWT needs to set an example first, said Michael Blyth, a Fort Simpson resident.

Chief Jim Antoine of Liidlii Kue First Nation also agreed that there should be a target for the territory and that it should be sector specific. Antoine raised the example of the Prairie Creek Mine that could soon come online and the diesel generators it uses for power.

Antoine was also in favour of the suggested combination of setting both short- and long-term reduction goals. The years 2020 and 2050 were given as examples by the tour's staff.

One area where there was less consensus was on carbon pricing and the options of a carbon tax or a market based cap and trade system. Neither are part of the current strategy and one or both could be included in the new one.

After listening to the explanation of how a carbon tax might work Antoine objected. Antoine said he represents a lot of people with low incomes and that asking them to pay more, even if they got a rebate later in the year, would be a bad idea. Carbon tax seems to be a negative twist on the positive goal of being more environmentally friendly, he said.

"The people who are really going to suffer are the poor people," Antoine said.

Ryan Good, another participant at the meeting, had a different stance. The government is sending a strong statement on the need to address climate change but on the other hand it's saying it won't take action if people aren't willing to pay just two cents more per litre of gas as part of a carbon tax, Good said.

Even if people have differing views of what actions should be taken everyone who's attended the meetings have agreed there's a climate change problem and that steps need to be taken to address and reverse it, said Sparling.

Common themes at the meetings have included looking at what can be done to develop local, alternative energy sources that can decrease the cost of living, said Sparling. In Fort Liard on May 4 the focus was heavily on geothermal energy.

The Fort Liard meeting had the distinction of having the largest turnout of the tour to that point with approximately 20 people staying for the discussion following a feast. Fort Simpson's attendance was average.

Residents who were unable to attend a meeting can submit comments and questions about the strategy's renewal until the end of May.

The revised strategy is scheduled to go before the legislative assembly in August to be approved prior to the territorial elections, Sparling said.

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