David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope it’s more than just looking at it; I hope that he’s going to come back with something that’s solid, that gives us some options and we’re able to act, as a government and as 19 Members, to make a difference to the people of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier that he does make this a priority, come back to the next sitting in this House and have some answers as to how he sees government making a difference in this program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Mackenzie Delta for electing me for a fourth term in office. Also, I would like to take this time to recognize the other candidates who also ran in this election: Mary Clark and Donny Robert. I would like to encourage them to continue on and pursue public office in other upcoming elections.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take this time to recognize our community leaders, frontline workers and community organizations. We all have to work together to improve the lives of our residents. Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the worker's advisor, Colin Baile. Welcome to the House.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I’d like to thank my constituents in the Mackenzie Delta and the people of the Mackenzie Delta for allowing me to serve for the last 12 years. More importantly, my constituency staff which included Liz Wright, Sue Ellen Wilson, Elaine Blake from Tsiigehtchic, and Jean Pascal from Aklavik. Mr. Speaker, in regards to the support that we all get as Members of this House, we can never forget our community leaders, our elders, and, more importantly, our constituents who are the ones that drive us and ensure the reason that we’re here is to serve...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Braden, again, I’d like to wish you all the best in your endeavours in moving forward. Again, it was an honour serving with you but, more importantly, responding to the many, many questions that you’ve asked over the last while. But I think it’s more importantly your wisdom, your knowledge and the importance of the issues that you took to this table in trying to find solutions for the people of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I’d also like to thank the staff of the Legislative Assembly along with the staff throughout government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Workers’ Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut 2006 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the challenge that we face is because we have such a small customer base by 40,000 people and trying to have the infrastructure and the cost to operate that infrastructure burdened by that 40,000, you have to find new customers. Again, you look at other provinces across the country and Quebec, Manitoba, B.C., who have developed their hydro industry around the export of power. As the North moves forward, we will have to consider that as a means of generating new revenues. We are looking at other revenue sources, such as I mentioned, the diamond mines...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we all know, through our business plans, I did commit. We are developing a hydro strategy in light of the change to develop our own hydro corporation. We are working with looking at mini hydro in communities. We are looking at the hydro potential to the pipeline. We are looking at hydro potential in regards to the expansion of Taltson, the diamond mines. In order to conclude that, we have directed the corporation to develop a hydro strategy which we are hoping to have completed and brought forward as a transitional document to the incoming...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did make that commitment in this House and I did state to the Member that I would get that information to her before the adjournment of this House. Thank you.