Kevin O'Reilly

I want to thank the Minister for that response. It's my understanding that the costs for some of those projects may actually go down with an all-weather road providing easier transportation. Can the Minister tell us whether there has been a comprehensive evaluation of energy options for the Tlicho communities that include mini-hydro, transmission lines from various sources, greenhouse gas reductions, and most importantly, perhaps, value for money?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In my statement earlier today I mentioned the difficult relations between our government and the NWT francophone community over education. Can the Minister tell me how many applications for admissions by non-rights holders she has received under the 2016 directive, and how many were approved? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not available.]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to save my reflections and thanks for the replies to the Commissioner's address a little later. I have spoken several times, though, in this House about the often strained relationship between the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the NWT francophone community.

On October 16, 2016, the then-Minister said, "That's where we don't want to end up, is in the courthouse, and then have a court order against the government." Unfortunately, that is where this government has gone again on the...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. My concern is that the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation spent over $1 million looking at hydro potential for the community of Whati over the years, and now we are talking about building a power line over from the Snare system to Whati. That's something that is way larger than the capacity needed for the community.

The information that I got from the hydro tech consultant who did the 2003 feasibility study for the Whati indicated that we can have small hydro projects for Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti for probably the same cost, if not lower, than the cost of this...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Why are we building a power line over from Snare to Whati for 13 megawatts of power when a community base load might be, maybe it is 1.2; maybe it has increased a little bit since then. Why are we building something that large to go over to Whati? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. There are a couple projects here I would like to ask some questions about. Whati transmission ICIP: can someone tell me whether that is connecting Whati to the existing grid near Behchoko? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Two document to table: excerpts from "Wha Ti Community Energy Plan - Options for Energy Supply and Management for Wha Ti, Northwest Territories"; and excerpts from "Northwest Territories Energy Report, May 2011." Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I'm not sure that $290,000 from our government is going to do it, but I guess that will be up to the 19th Assembly. I was on the ENR website this morning, and there is now a rudimentary public registry for protected areas. Can the Minister tell us what the plans are to complete a public registry, and when will it be fully functional?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. My understanding is that regulations must be in place to enable final protections for Thaidene Nene. Is this the case, and when will regulations be completed? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday was a great day for the people of Lutselk'e, safeguarding our natural legacy for all NWT citizens, and development of the conservation economy. Leaders of the Governments of Canada, the Northwest Territories, and the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation officially signed the establishment agreements for the 26,000-square-kilometre protected area now formally known as Thaidene Nene. Mahsi cho for this important work.

This success came at the end of a long road that began in 1970, when land was set aside, and it was reignited in 2000, with the opening of...