Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Premier Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to say that I’m a little frustrated actually being here today. I’m a little frustrated that the first time that the Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly get to vote on anything on the bridge, the vote is such that we really don’t have a choice. We pretty much have to vote yes to this thing. If we don’t vote yes to this thing it’s still going to cost us the same or more money. The delays will actually, in my opinion, result in far greater expenditures than the incredibly high expenditures that we’re already dealing with today. It’s frustrating and it makes me...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of questions as outlined in my general comments, but to begin with, thanks to Ms. Bisaro for asking a bunch of the questions I wanted to ask and Mr. Beaulieu as well. I was going to start with the question Mr. Beaulieu just asked, which is why five years. Is there any chance we can look at getting a six or a seven? Even an extra year or two would help us an awful lot. I’m looking at the forecasts of what our debt is going to be, and in 2015-2016 we are still quite in debt and if we had a couple of extra years it might give us a little more comfort moving...

Thank you, Premier Roland. Minister Michael McLeod.

I think with something like the Taltson expansion we need to be thinking long term, we need to be thinking about the benefits to the people of the Northwest Territories, not just to the pocketbook of Deze which stands to make a lot of money from this if we go around the East Arm. There are other mining opportunities. There’s Avalon near Thor Lake, there are opportunities in Pine Point, and there’s also, hopefully someday if there aren’t already, opportunities in the North Slave Geological Province that can be accessed through alternate routes. I want to know why we’re so bent on going with...

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Premier Roland.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. We’re reviewing Supplementary Appropriation No. 2, 2010-2011 (Infrastructure Expenditures), and we’re on detail, page 5. First on my list is Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier. The NWT Hydro Corporation’s strategic plan promises a feasibility analysis and design of a potential electrical grid for the Northwest Territories. The Taltson expansion does not address this or support a long-term strategy focused on the NWT grid system or creating redundancy within the NWT electrical system. You would think that this analysis and design of a grid should logically occur prior to the Taltson expansion itself. So could the Premier tell me how can this government support the expansion of Taltson if it avoids...

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Premier Roland.

Does the committee wish to proceed with detail on Supplementary Appropriation No. 2, 2010-2011?