Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, the Premier went on to elaborate more on the benefits of having the diamond mines here. I am not arguing that at all. It is a tremendous benefit to the Territory. Hay River, Yellowknife, the IBAs, the many benefits that we have realized from the development of these diamond mines is unquestionable. However, we also have amazing hydro potential. What the Premier is saying is that we do not have the ability to finance that or pay for that for the private customers and residents of the Northwest Territories, but this single customer base by way of the diamond mines is the only...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues today who have very eloquently spoken to the issue of the Deze Energy Corporation. This corporation actually had its origins in a previous government and it does have similarities to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.

This was the idea and brainchild of a government and of people who are not any longer sitting at this table. Yet we here as a government... Oh, well, some of them are still here.

---Laughter

The idea of the structure and ownership of this corporation has merit in the fact that I think recognition should be given to the First...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be voting in favour of the motion.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier points out the furthermore that all employees and officials actively cooperate. I think that raises an interesting point, not to suggest that this government has not or would not fully cooperate with the Auditor General. However, Mr. Speaker, this is an unusual project where much of the activity was undertaken by a third party, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. That information and that documentation are things that were not always readily available to this government perhaps, but certainly not to this side...

I have very recently met with the person who would like to be the proponent for this project, understanding, though, that it may need to be a government project so to speak, but then the economy would come in where we would have a savings on the fuel and the economy could be created by the people who would be participating in the harvesting of the material to make the wood pellets.

Mr. Speaker, this has been quite a long while in the works and I had just recently met with Mr. Patterson, Mr. Patterson Jr., and he had asked me to request the Minister if we could have a sit down, face-to-face...

This is great. This is the first time I had a set of questions back to back. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will make this very brief.

The prospects of a pellet mill at Patterson Sawmill in Hay River have been supported by this government by way of a study that has been composed. Mr. Speaker, just to make a long story short, the cost of the infrastructure and the operations, significantly the power, is a huge consideration in this. Although there is product out there to be harvested that could make the manufacturing of pellets in Hay River viable, the upfront costs and some of the ongoing costs...

Mr. Speaker, as one of the MLAs for Hay River, I am most concerned that we do not pass this date by which capital projects need to be into the mix for the upcoming year. A capital project of this size, actually, funding is allocated over a number of years, but you have to start somewhere and I had hoped that some of the capital required would be identified in the capital budget and it would be voted on in this Assembly in the fall, but there is a date by which a site would need to be designated in order for that to be accomplished. That is the date that I am concerned about Public Works and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently the Minister of Public Works and Services visited Hay River and had an opportunity to have a firsthand look at some of the potential sites that have been identified for the construction of a new hospital in Hay River. I was wondering if Public Works has any kind of an update on the evaluation of those sites. Thank you.

The Minister mentions that I’ve brought this up three times. He must think I’m nagging him. I would like to know, I know he sent his people out to look at it, but I would like to know if the Minister would commit to having some kind of an engineer or somebody that builds roads look at this. Because I am very serious; the last time that I drove over that little spot and looked down there I was surprised. Even myself, a layperson, I could see that there had been further erosion. What I’m afraid is that there could be something that needs to be X-rayed under the road to see if there is some kind...

Let’s just say going forward that our 30 percent interest in this project, in this business case as the Premier speaks of it, if the dividends from that flow to this government are significant, is there any way of channelling, designating, allocating that dividend to do something to explore green and affordable energy options for other residents and businesses in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that this dialogue we are having today on the Taltson expansion and the delivery of hydro to the diamond mines is a very good discussion. The Premier has been doing an excellent job of responding to these questions. I would bet you the people out there in the Northwest Territories listening to this are getting a much better understanding of how this whole thing is working. I have been trying to listen to it through objective ears. I think we are accomplishing that.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot deny that the diamond mines have been a tremendous asset to the economy in...