Kevin O'Reilly

I want to thank the Minister for that information. Of course, we may be able to reduce or eliminate all the diesel for the three Tlicho communities for the same cost as building the line that the Minister put forward in the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. Given that there hasn't been this evaluation of options, why are we proceeding with a transmission line?

Merci, Monsieur le President. Later today I will table information on costs of mini-hydro projects for the Tlicho communities of Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti. I shared this information with the Minister of Infrastructure earlier today. These projects would allow each community to meet its energy needs, offset diesel for electricity, and could displace home heating oil while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of living. Is the Minister aware of these mini-hydro studies, and can he tell us whether the cost of these mini-hydro projects is comparable to the proposed Whati...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I, too, would like to recognize a constituent, Mr. Tamlin Gilbert. He is going to be serving as one of the returning officers in the upcoming election.

We also, of course, have Nicole Latour, the Chief Electoral Officer. I want to thank her for her work at improving elections and electoral reform in general. I want to recognize returning officer for Frame Lake, Ms. Mona Durkee. I might be by to see you in early September.

Lastly, and not least, my constituency assistant, Craig Yeo. No matter what he did to try to make me look good, it often just didn't work. Mahsi...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I know that I have one minute left on the clock. Is Fortune Minerals paying any of this cost, and is this really to facilitate their development in some way? Is this the Government of the Northwest Territories providing a public subsidy for the development of their project? Is that what this is all about? Could I get an answer? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I see this project is going to take three years. Is there a ballpark figure that I can provide for the cost of this transmission line? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can someone tell me: I have a 2003 pre-feasibility study for hydroelectric on the Lac La Martre River. The predicted base load for the community was 1.2 megawatts. What is the capacity of the power line? Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In all the capital budgets that I've been involved in here, there was no effort to reach out to Regular MLAs and talk about what the priorities should be. Unfortunately, the same old game.

I can say that Regular MLAs did request a number of changes, and those were rejected, as well. It is the largest infrastructure acquisition plan during my time in this Assembly, and probably the largest ever. I recognize that a large portion of this is probably coming from the federal government, but they seem to be determining our priorities now.

I am also quite concerned about the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. As I said in my statement, it's one thing to create a protected area on paper, and it's another to have a vision and a role for protected areas in the NWT economy. Can the Minister explain this government's vision and commitments towards the conservation economy?

I want to thank the Minister for that. At yesterday's announcement, there were financial commitments made by the Government of Canada, but I'm not aware of any from this government. Can the Minister tell us: what specific capital and operations funding has this government committed towards Thaidene Nene?

Merci, Monsieur le President. It's not clear whether there is a territorial vision for protected areas and the conservation economy. Are protected areas going to be paper exercises, or is this government ready to embrace the opportunity to diversify our economy with commensurate investments? I'll have questions for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.