Glen Abernethy

With respect to routing lines, there are several different options and there has been some costing suggested, but the costing was actually provided by Deze themselves and the NWT Hydro Corporation, both obviously proponents of a particular route. I was wondering if there was any opportunity or could the Premier facilitate the acquisition of costing that wasn’t done by the two organizations that want to go a particular direction. I think it would be interesting to get an independent assessment that would cross the islands, the island route or outside the sub-islands or even the western route...

I encourage the Premier to refocus this project and find a third-party partner who, in addition to understanding the value of making a profit, understands the social importance of this project and that the people of the Northwest Territories who are stakeholders and owners of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and the NWT Hydro Corporation, and that their desires and wishes must be heard and addressed as the Taltson expansion moves forward.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will be asking the Premier some questions based on my Member’s statement. Thank you.

I get a business case, I understand it. Quite frankly, it makes sense to me. If you want to make a lot of money, the eastern route is the best thing. If I was a businessman or a member of Deze, that’s what I would want as well. But I’m not. I’m a territorial politician and so is the Premier and what we need to be doing is we need to be working in the best interest of the people of the Northwest Territories.

I’m not convinced that is the best route. I am happy the Premier is willing to meet with us and give us some additional information, but what I want to ask the Premier is if it’s too late to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are in follow-up to my Member’s statement. On March 3rd, in responding to questions from my colleague Mr. Bromley, the Premier said, according to the unedited Hansard, “We have looked at this project and this project has been built on a clear case of a business model. If we want to establish more to it, then we can do that.” Later, in response to another question, he indicated, according to unedited Hansard once again, “So if this project goes, and it will go only by the fact that it’s a business case model, if we add more to it, then we lose the business...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I made a Member’s statement with respect to the Taltson expansion and the importance of making decisions on a territorial resource that is in or for the public good. I followed that statement up with questions to the Premier and encouraged him to put the interests of the people of the Northwest Territories at the forefront of Cabinet decision-making on this project.

I strongly encouraged the Premier to work with Deze in the best interest of the people and, as a stakeholder, encourage them to consider alternate routes where long-term benefits are greater for the...

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. There’s a motion on the floor. The motion is being distributed. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to thank the Minister and the deputy minister for that. That didn’t seem so hard. I think that’s important information and I think the people of the Northwest Territories want to know that the people we’ve put in charge have the skills. I’m happy that you’re confident and I’m happy you went through the process that you went through to get individuals that you’re confident in.

With respect to the timeline, how much involvement of these people, these experts that you’ve brought on as your project management, how much involvement have they had and how much disclosure...

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Ms. Melhorn.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.