Jane Groenewegen

Avalon Ventures’ Thor Lake Project environmental assessments, a lot of that work has already been done. It happened very quietly, but much of that work has already been done. I think it’s up to our government to invest the resources. When we see an opportunity, we have to be proactive. We have to create that business case for why we should be supporting this.

Going back to the previous set of questions, the Minister answered that in terms of the excess power generated at the Taltson now, the Minister said something. I want to know who has jurisdiction over it. Is it NTPC? Has it been turned...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Taltson is being expanded and I understand the potential demand of the diamond mines, if that happens. But, Mr. Speaker, we make the legislation. Sure, the act was put in place in the 15th Assembly, but why could there not be an exclusion made as well to supply power for this sizeable customer in the South Slave? Why couldn’t the same principles of business and making a profit apply to some kind of a negotiation for power supply for Avalon Ventures?

I think it’s very important that we have an opportunity before us here to keep this...

I hope that in looking at what we can offer, we do not put too much emphasis on that federal responsibility and the royalties not accruing to the Government of the Northwest Territories, because we have the diamond mines as a very clear example of where this government went to extreme lengths -- and I applaud this, I’m not criticizing this -- with diamond secretariats and training programs through the college and a lot of financial support, loan guarantees for processing diamonds. There was a whole real spectrum of support for the diamond mines and we didn’t get any royalties from that either...

...that were put forth by the Members on this side of the House in response to our constituents who told us of their concerns and their problems when this new practice came into place of having ECE manage the housing subsidy. There were problems. They were logistical problems, in some instances, where ECE and the housing authorities were not co-located and information needed to pass back and forth. We caused some great stress to seniors who were living in subsidized accommodation who, all of a sudden, got letters saying what the economic rent was going to be for their unit and they didn’t...

Mr. Speaker, I assume that the discussions with Nancy Southern from ATCO were in a positive vein. I would like to ask the Minister what would be the next steps in pursuing a partnership to enable the GNWT to develop the Taltson hydro potential. What would the next steps in that process be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Finance Minister’s budget address today he talked about the expansion of the Taltson hydro dam and that’s something that has been on the radar for quite some time. It would be an economic boon to the area. It would certainly be environmentally good judgment to offset the use of diesel and the mines and perhaps other consumers as well that would be interested in tying into extra hydro power. Mr. Speaker, there are many benefits and many pluses to the expansion of the Taltson hydro dam.

The Minister indicated that the GNWT does not have the financial...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate the Minister of Finance on his budget address. He read it almost without skipping a beat and it was one long address.

The contents of the address are also good. Overall it is good. But as I listened to the various announcements about investments and priorities of this government, where it said the government will do something tangible, I felt encouraged by that. That was the kind of thing I like to see.

Still, in this budget there are too many -- and I highlighted them in yellow -- references to developing a strategic plan or a framework or a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the very public quasi announcement by the Minister of Finance today that the GNWT is looking for a partner on the Taltson hydro expansion, does the government have a plan if this information that’s been put out here today... If this has the effect of interesting other parties, potential other parties in this, does the government have a plan to deal with that so that this is not kind of just, you know, flying by the seat of our pants on this, that we actually aren’t just waiting to react to things, that in fact we have a plan going forward? Thank you.

Thank you. That’s the first time I’ve actually formally heard those meetings taking place in Copenhagen. I had heard some rumours and so on. How does any discussions that have taken place or any agreements that may be arrived at, how does that tie in with the unsolicited ATCO proposal that has also been on the table of which we are awaiting the government’s review of that proposal? How is that related to the Taltson? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to acknowledge a Hay River constituent, a young man, the youngest in a family of six children, who put on skis for the first time when he was three years old and started in biathlon training when he was nine years old. At the age of 16 this young man set his scope and sights on an Olympic dream, training with great dedication and knocking off achievement after achievement. You have heard me speak of those achievements in this House.

Today, after these years of training and competing at home and around the world, joining the youngest ever Canadian team...