Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get that information and I will provide it to the Member. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the work that we have done and this draft AIP that has been sent out has been many years in the making. In fact, the specific work on this area started as far back as 2001. The previous government along with four of the groups initialled off and sent it in. That work has been the foundation, the basis of the work that has gone forward. So there has been much involvement in that process and as our process is established and works, before I can sign off on that I would have to go to my Cabinet colleagues to see their input on that. As well, as we do in practice, we seek the input of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have, as a government, used a process that is well established and one that is working with the parties at the table and the aboriginal organizations that have been a part of this process. We are awaiting their input with the joint letter that went out to them. We’ll have to decide at that point how we proceed as the GNWT.

As I had stated earlier, much like the comprehensive Dene/Metis claim, the Northern Accord work had a lot of work done that led up to that. As to actual implementation, we’ve been using the agreements that have been signed off, that have been voted on and protected under the Constitution and our work as signatories when those parties or those agreements were ratified. The Northern Accord was a process that led up to and many hoped that it would be finalized, but much like the Dene/Metis Comprehensive Claim it did not proceed beyond that. In fact, we do now use the agreements that are in place...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the Member’s lead up to the question he talked about the comprehensive Dene/Metis claim that was concluded. Mr. Speaker, that was not concluded. It was a discussion that was going on, but that process then led to the regional claims process and those are in place and we continue to work with those in implementation in fulfilling the agreements.

On the area of how many groups it takes to go forward, the draft AIP is in the hands of both the Government of Canada and ourselves, as well as a letter has been sent to the aboriginal organizations, and they have to the end of...

Mr. Speaker, I need some clarification on that. Is there a backup system in place over the summer months? We do have, for example, Gen Sets that are available and we move them in from time to time where they are needed in our communities where there are major outages and major breakdowns. Again, that is marshalled up at the time when we have them set up so that we can move them throughout the Territory. Again, for more specific on what area of backup the Member is looking for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for that question on the Power Corporation. It was unfortunate the incidents that occurred there, and the power being out for as long as it was and the weather affecting the crews from getting into that community. We must, as the Member has stated, ensure that the community pull together in a very solid way, and a successful way, and ensuring people manage to get power to their homes and keep their homes heated. We thank the community for pulling together on that.

The Power Corporation, on the issue of the outages that have occurred both in Ulukhaktok...

Mr. Speaker, I will get the maintenance schedule for our communities and provide that to Members. I know in our work we do, when we are replacing some capital components, that they do have a schedule for our communities. I will get that information for Members. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, all the work that the Power Corporation does in trying to provide a reliable service to the communities does include a level of redundancy, and that is in the generators, or Gen Set as we call them in the communities, so that there is backup.

The problem becomes more so an issue when we talk about our lines and transformers and so on. They have equipment that they could replace, but it is a matter of getting people into our most remote communities when something does occur like that and we try to marshal the crews to get out as soon as weather permits in some cases to, in fact...

Mr. Speaker, as I know, the Minister of Justice has worked with the community and with, for example, the RCMP and the Department of Justice to support their plan for the backup policy that they have initiated and we have had to implement, which costs us more money through our contract, as well as expand services into those communities that don’t have coverage and work with the RCMP on that initiative as well, because they are in charge of, for example, the capital side. Our contract covers the O and M side. That is something that continues to be something we work with them on to try to expand...