Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair, I appreciate that. I guess I’ll just reiterate. I think the problem is with the design of the program. If there’s a $40,000 cap and it’s not fully subscribed, there’s a need there, the problem is with the design of the program. I’m just asking if the Minister will come to committee and try to work out a way to improve the services and redesign the program.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment to do that. I look forward to getting the information. I have one other question about the contribution for Arctic Energy Alliance. In 2015-16, it looks like there was a one-time contribution of $1.8 million done through supplementary appropriations. Can someone from the department explain what happened there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Look, I am not trying to prolong this.

---Laughter

I see the top that says there is an authorized fund limit of $6.5 million, yet how does that figure into all these numbers here because most of them seem to be over that amount. Can someone help me understand this? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. No other questions.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The $2.2 million that is referenced in the Minister’s opening remarks… I am still trying to figure out how there is an actual increase. Where is the other money that is going into that Housing Corp actually coming from if it is not a contribution from our government? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. It's not the answer I guess I was hoping to hear, but I do have a question on the next page. Should I just hold it there? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that. I think part of the difficulty is going to be I think the department is bringing forward legislations to set this up, and to properly communicate and allow the standing committee to do its work, having the business case sooner than later would be very helpful. Because I do think that there needs to be a lot more communication done on this. The summer is a long time. Is it something that we can expect sooner than later? Because if the committee is going to do a good job looking at the legislation that's going to come forward for this, we need to know what...

I want to talk a little bit here about caribou protection measures. The Minister mentioned that GNWT rightly opposed the mineral development in the calving grounds of the Bathurst caribou herd on the Nunavut side. Yet, there is still no caribou protection measures in place for the Bathurst caribou or any herd on the NWT side of the border. I would like to know from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, what specific actions has GNWT taken to reduce the impacts of mining activities on the Bathurst caribou herd on our side of the border?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just want to provide some assurance to the department and the staff that in no way am I questioning the integrity of any of the staff there. I'm just trying to understand how they implement independence. So that's all I've got. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just on this subject of net metering. Although we have that policy in place for it, people that build up credits, they lose them at the end of the year. So it is not really a very good policy. And I don't think it goes far enough in terms of encouraging people to become more self-sufficient. Is the department looking at developing a better policy when it comes to net metering? Thanks, Mr. Chair.