Bob Bromley

Thanks for the Minister’s comments. With regard to that, do we have any projects in Deline yet of such conversions, or would this be a first? I’m just wondering what the availability of biomass is. For example, do we know that yet in Deline, the viability of it and so on?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question, just moving a couple clicks down the road there, any update on the Detah road?

The Minister anticipated my second question, which was about partnerships. Just on the extent of the project, I know that it will end up sort of close to the Bristol on the road to the airport, but where is it starting, and can the Minister tell us anything about the routing?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assume from the responses so far that, in fact, we have had no input to that agreement with China, that bilateral agreement. The Quebec government has invited comments from its citizens to add the public voice to its opposition or input. This government has announced its intention to consult the public on a new economic development strategy.

Will the Premier ensure that any consultation on new Cabinet policy invites our citizens to state their views on the need for local preference policies, and in the meantime express our concerns to the federal government over the...

I appreciate the Minister’s comments. I wish they were relevant to my question.

I guess I would ask him again, national health spending on pharmaceuticals increased about $7 billion between 2005 and 2010. Under the CETA proposed provisions, costs would increase a further 22 percent. Our Ministers have told us these are significant proportions of our costs. We can’t be silent on this.

Will the Premier vigorously communicate to the federal government the negative consequences of such an agreement to our interests and ask that the drug provisions not be allowed, or has he done that already?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, the ever-increasing degree and frequency of impact of federal actions on our territorial interests, and the lack of consultation and respect for our needs requires equally frequent response. Federal trade negotiations which damage our ability to protect our economy are another example of federal disregard for hearing and addressing our concerns.

A specific example is the recently revealed Canada-China Trade Agreement. It provides China with the right to claim damages against any level of government in Canada for decisions and laws that result in a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Minister’s remarks. I understand that, and that’s undoubtedly a contributing factor to these underestimates and part of the point that I was raising. I understand that we’re stepping out here, so we need to bring that into consideration as we make our estimates and so on.

I know from my participation here that we have a record of requests for dollars. Obviously, nickel and diming would not be the right term here because these are very significant amounts of money, but they are cumulative, that have eventually proved to be insufficient for the task at hand. In other words, we were told they would achieve this and they haven’t, and we’ve added and so on. I am very concerned about this project in general, as the House is well aware that this is completely in line with expectations that this cost will escalate and that we are, really, underestimating the...

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. That’s really all the questions I had.

Just on that, obviously, it’s sometimes worth paying a little more for a ground-breaking project towards reducing overall costs for subsequent projects so it might be worth a bit of an investment, or at least a full-cost accounting approach when we do that analysis. That’s all the questions I had.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe this is the project in Deline, if I am correct. I know there are some very good energy efficiency upgrades focused with this proposed expenditure. I’m wondering what the future might hold in terms of switching to biomass. Obviously, the long-term operational costs, really, are to be had in the biggest way through replacing fossil fuel costs with renewable energy costs. I know the department, the government is well aware of this and doing these sorts of conversions in a number of areas throughout the NWT. Have we done such a thing in Deline yet, and what’s the...