Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Member asked me the question so that I could present the facts so that he can provide the correct information when he talks to his people.

We’ve been working for over two years to find a way to resolve some long-standing land issues with the Dehcho First Nations. We created a working group of senior officials where we spent over two years where we did come up with an agreement on how we could move forward. Those were rejected out of hand by the Dehcho First Nations leadership. I might add that the Government of the Northwest Territories increased the offer...

We always talk about cost of living whenever we go to Ottawa, we just don’t put it in all of our press releases or communiques. We know that we talk to most of the Ministers about the fact that we’re the only jurisdiction in Canada whose population has been declining, and the biggest reason for that is the high cost of living. We’ve benefited from the lower costs of gasoline and heating fuel in the last six months, at least in the larger centres, and we have talked about what can be done taxation-wise or otherwise how we can work with the Government of Canada to reduce the cost of living. The...

I know he’s a new MLA in this 17th Assembly. It was started talking about it in the 16th Assembly and it’s been around ever since, so we’ve been talking about it for at least five years. Thank you.

I presume the Member has some hard and fast figures that can prove his research in that the price of power will decrease by 10 cents a kilowatt hour, but on this side we don’t have the luxury of making those statements without thorough review and due diligence. Communities have the authority to decide on their distribution. Hay River has a franchise agreement that will come due in November 2016 and we know that everybody is interested in reducing the cost of living. We will consider what Hay River is doing, we would look at it, taking all of the policy issues into consideration on this very...

I’m not sure what the Member means when he says we’re number one. All of the power and the communities and the rest of the Northwest Territories would be very pleased to have the power rates that we enjoy here in Yellowknife.

As far as power distribution, we manage it very carefully through the Public Utilities Board. Every rate increase goes through a regulatory review process, and as we go forward as a government we have the ability to review our policies to see if they are in our best interest to move away from the existing distribution system. Thank you.

I would be glad to hear any suggestions from the Member. This is the best offer that’s ever been made and it’s been rejected, so we will continue to work through the land claims table.

The GNWT offer and what’s been negotiated in negotiations with the Dehcho First Nations is the most favourable ever made in the Northwest Territories, if not Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Members back for the continuation of the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly.

As we near the end of our term, it is only natural to want to look back at what we have achieved. While we have accomplished many of the goals and objectives we set for ourselves when we first met in October 2011, there is still more work to be done. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels.

We have a vision of strong individuals and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.

We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 31-17(5), Establishment of Ombudsman Office.” Thank you.

We’ve been looking at a corridor for years, I think for over 40 years since the first Arctic gas pipeline was talked about, and we think that now is the time to go. At the appropriate time, when we have the process clearly laid out, when we have accessed all the funding sources, we will be in a position to more fully describe this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.