Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 29, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2013-2014, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is no commercial outfitter tag allocation. There is none currently, and given the herd numbers, there is no plan at this point to reinstitute those commercial tags for some time. The commitment on the Bathurst herd is going to be the next full count will be done in 2015-16, so it will be at least until 2016 before we’re in any position to look at the clear numbers of the state of the Bathurst herd to see what type of harvest may be possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not normal that I would speak on third reading, but I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the vote we’re about to take in this House on an issue that has been a goal of Assemblies back as far as the 12th Assembly and we should appreciate the significance of this bill and what it has done for us. It has helped us create processes working with Aboriginal governments that exist nowhere else and in which we can draft legislation together. It has helped set a really strong foundation for devolution and it has brought our Wildlife Act, as old and archaic as it is...

I just would need some clarity from the Member on what he means by normal and comparable. If he wants to compare it to the Fort Smith rates, we’d be happy to lay out the price breakdown. I will indicate clearly right now one of the big costs that Yellowknife has, that Hay River has and Fort Smith doesn’t have, is the franchise arrangements and costs that flow from that arrangement that communities make on their own call, because of their franchise fee, and we can show and we will be happy to lay that out for the Member to the cent, to the kilowatt hour and have a discussion if that would...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 30, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2014-2015, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make infrastructure expenditures for the 2014-2015 fiscal year. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it’s a good thing that the Member in fact has a day job, because if he had to sing for his supper, it would be a long time between meals.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 28, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2013-2014, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the fiscal year 2013-2014. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no bias in the system. The whole intent was to create a system that was more even and less complex, hence the thermal rates and the Yellowknife rates. One of the big factors in Yellowknife and Hay River, plus a couple of small communities, is there is another power distributor, NUL. While we provide and sell power at wholesale rates, the provider in these communities adds their own costs on top of that, which is why there is such a distinct difference, for example, between Hay River and Fort Smith, why there is such a distinct difference between the power rates...

Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 30, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2014-2015.

---Consent granted

I want to make it clear that we’ll want to look at the numbers clearly. If you use a global number of spills, some of them are going to be very small; some of them will be larger, as the Member has indicated. We have to set up the processes as we take over. We want to make sure that we have the capacity to monitor, to do a better job, to work with the industry, to work with the National Energy Board to bring a better focus to bear, but there is a reality that if you have this type of activity with that type of material being moved, and given the fact that they’ve been in operation for decades...