Bob McLeod

The government already has a Petroleum Products Stabilization Fund and it has a maximum value of $1 million. This Petroleum Products Stabilization Fund is intended to temporarily compensate for differences between the purchased cost and the sale price of petroleum products. There is always a delay between the day when new fuel products are delivered to communities and the date when prices to customers are changed. So, we already have a Stabilization Fund. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The communities that the Member is referring to are those where we resupply once a year, and whatever the price is at that time we pass it on to the consumer. We have a revolving fund, and in a lot of the small communities when the revolving fund is in a surplus position, we reduce the costs, in a lot of cases, by 10 cents a litre. But, generally, we pass the cost on to the consumer. It’s very unusual for the gas prices to go down. Usually they go up. We’re still waiting here in Yellowknife for the gas prices to go down, so I think you’re referring to a temporary spike...

That is our intention, and we hope that through the people who we invite and all the participants that will in fact be the case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It was our government’s intention to look at finishing the costing of these transmission lines, and also, at the same time, we had approached the federal government to increase our borrowing limit by $1 billion.

Our costing has determined that the cost of building a transmission line to join the Taltson and Snare Hydro systems are prohibitive and it’s in the neighbourhood of almost 100 percent more than we had originally forecasted. In our view, those costs are too prohibitive to allow us to go ahead.

I think we feel with a second Energy Charrette we have to take a different approach whereby we...

Of course, we can always look at every situation, but generally the market determines the price and we pass the cost on to the consumer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The prices in the small communities will not change until the next resupply. So a year from now, when we do the resupply, at that time hopefully there will be lower prices in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, investing in the health and well-being of our people and our communities and building prosperity in the Northwest Territories is at the heart of this Assembly’s priorities, but it is not our priority alone. These goals are shared by many non-governmental organizations in our territory, by our citizens and by our employees.

The United Way NWT is one such organization and I am pleased today to stand as the United Way’s NWT Government of the Northwest Territories Workplace Campaign honourary chair to announce the kick-off of this year’s staff payroll campaign.

Mr. Speaker, the United...

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

Last month the Government of the Northwest Territories announced that it would cover the expected $20 million in increased operating costs that the Northwest Territories Power Corporation faces due to extremely low water levels in the Snare Hydro system.

Our government took this extraordinary step because we are serious about addressing the high cost of living people in the Northwest Territories face. Without this decision, the added cost of using diesel to supplement...

I didn’t hear a question there, but I will respond in kind. In our opinion, the Sahtu Land and Water Board dealt with the application. There is no drilling going on anywhere in the Northwest Territories right now. We as a government are developing draft oil and gas regulations that will be put to the public early in the new year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sustainable economic development is a priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. With devolution, as the Member points out, our Government of the Northwest Territories is taking on a greater role in creating our future and guiding the Northwest Territories economy. We strive for balanced development where we have development while protecting the environment.

In the North the regulatory system flows from land claim agreements with land and water boards, with representatives of the federal, territorial and Aboriginal governments tasked with making decisions...