Michael McLeod

It's not like we've got ten, fifteen thousand people to look after.

I look at the ridings of some of the Members here and I see the Member for Nunakput has a wide geographical riding. He has to go all over. Same with the Member for the Sahtu. He has a lot of communities he has to cover.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are other processes that are available. People have the ability to file as interveners. The municipalities can do this, Individuals can do this, so it is not clearly demonstrated in every occasion that there has to be a hearing. In this case, there have been a number of issues brought forth by the municipality. There are also a number of issues by residents. The MLAs for that area have raised an issue. All of this information has to be compiled and looked at before there is confirmation that there will be a hearing. At this point, the Public Utilities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did have a chance to talk to the chair of the Public Utilities Board. At this time, it is not demonstrated that there will be a hearing. There have been a number of issues raised around the increase. A number of requests for information have been brought forward. All indications are that, more than likely, there will be one. But at this point, I can’t confirm that, absolutely, there will be one. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process allows for interveners. There is a process that requires application to be filled in and applied for. It has to be justified. There is also a mechanism to cover some of the costs of people that are identified as interveners. A public hearing is something that would be determined by the Public Utilities Board after there is clear demonstration that there is a need for it. At this point, it is really premature in the case of the municipality of Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did hear the Member’s comments during Members' statements yesterday. I did take the opportunity to check the act. There are requirements that the Public Utilities Board has to follow. It is the responsibility of the Public Utilities Board to provide information to the general public. However, the utility company that also is requesting an increase has responsibilities, that is to inform the municipality, and those things have been done in this case. There have been issues raised by some of the Members regarding increase request and also the...

Well, I’m hoping Ottawa listens to us. Ottawa, are you listening?

---Laughter

I’d like to see our government send them a real strong message because it’s the people of the Northwest Territories that elected this government and we should be looking out for their best interest instead of having our strings pulled from Ottawa. I do not like the fact that they do make a lot of the decisions for the Northwest Territories. I am not a puppet and I don’t think this government should be. So I think it’s time we took a strong stand and maybe told Ottawa that enough’s enough. We want what’s rightfully...

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to recognize the former MLA for the Deh Cho and the Speaker of this House, Sam Gargan.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course. I think we are already taking the first steps to do that. We have participated as stakeholders with the joint venture initiatives that are underway. We have also been working with the Tlicho and the Tlicho corridor to look at realignment, look at scoping out what it would cost to do work in that area. There are a number of initiatives on the table here. I don’t know if we are ready to move forward and go pound on the Minister’s door in Ottawa until we have some firm numbers on how we would cost-share some of these initiatives.

I have to point out also that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can’t guarantee the accuracy, but my information that we have through our discussions with a joint venture group has indicated that the costs, because of the winter road situation to the mines, will run around $100 million. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will commit to having that letter drafted within the next couple of weeks and have it sent out. Thank you.