Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 9, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2013-14, be read for the second time.

This bill authorizes the forgiveness of debts in accordance with the Financial Administration Act.

The proponent is a very astute businessman. He has, throughout, immersed himself in this industry. He’s had his contacts with export markets as well as in the North. As well, we will be looking to support him and encouraging him as a government, as we have, in terms of building his product and making sure that all the required classifications are there that would make this an absolutely premium product. Thank you.

In fact, down south, from my understanding, at one point the use of wood waste was considered to be a benefit to the wood pellet producers. It was seen to help the lumber mills manage all their excess and waste, but now the recognition has come that this biomass has value and so the issue of free sawdust and free slabs and waste for pellet mills is now a thing of the past. In fact, there is a fairly high rate of attrition.

We will look at stumpage fees. Aurora Wood Pellets will negotiate their arrangement with their respective Aboriginal governments or business interests representing Aboriginal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounds like a written question to me, so I’ll take it as notice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 8, Write-off of Debts Act, 2013-14, be read for the second time.

This bill authorizes the write-off of debts in accordance with the Financial Administration Act.

Yes, I’ve had numerous discussions with the owner of the wood pellet project as well as the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee, ENR and NTPC looking at, as the Member has indicated, using some of their own product and the waste heat to both possibly generate power as well as capture the heat so they can dry all the pellets and put that heat to use.

As well, with our net metering policy that is now being put into place, we would now have the capacity to potentially put back power into the line. If it’s located in Enterprise, then it will become a hub close to the railhead right on the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s question. I do appreciate him sending me a note and giving me a chance to open up my binder to double check my briefing notes.

I agree with him that the signing yesterday is a good news story. That signing yesterday was a political agreement. By the end of this month, we will work out with Fort Resolution the time to sign the actual formal detailed forest management agreement that lays out the 25-year agreement, the details pertaining to the areas and the harvesting and all the species to be harvested and such.

With that document and hopefully...

The make-up of the Wildlife Act Working Group is there for review. It contains and involves the Aboriginal governments and their representatives, the GNWT, the stakeholders, Wildlife Act Advisory Group as well as a membership that was in place prior to the start of the regulatory development. We’re looking at engaging those two bodies again.

One of the challenges that is on the table, as the Member has pointed out, is an understanding reflected in regulations that’s going to require mandatory reporting so that we can collectively manage the wildlife in the Northwest Territories, because you can...

The intent is to use the same process that we had developed, maybe with some modifications since the type of work is a little different, but the same intent that we had when we engaged with the Aboriginal governments, the Wildlife Act Working Group and then, as well, with stakeholders, the Wildlife Act Advisory Group to make sure we get the full range of input as we lay out and do the work in terms of the regulations. We will, of course, be prepared to provide regular updates with committee whenever they would like to have that feedback and opportunity to have input. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member has accused us, once again, of duplicitous behavior and nothing could be farther from the truth. There was no miscalculation of our estimates for income tax, corporate or personal income tax. We are here with the budget, it’s transparent, we’ve been going through the business planning process like normally we would, we’ll go through the public accounts, and to have the Member accuse us of duplicitous behaviour, to me, is uncalled for and it is not acceptable.

If he wants to stand up and point to something that is truly duplicitous, then I would have him do so. We are on...