Michael Miltenberger

Thank you. The Member has quoted a number of technical issues at some length and I don’t have it before me. So I will get in gear and I will take that question as notice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Madam Chair. Once again I apologize for double-siding my speech.

With respect to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources:

$100,000 to increase funding to the Energy Efficiency Incentive Program. This increase will be funded through the transfer of $100,000 from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

$400,000 to implement a program to replace electric hot water heaters with fuel-fired hot water heaters in communities that depend on thermal generation for electricity.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2011-2012; Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2011-2012; and Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2012-2013.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve taken that discussion in the House. The Member also put in written questions that we are looking at responding to. We are having the discussions. Once we’re through this budget process, we’ll be able to pay more attention to the matters of the day. I have been thoroughly occupied here in the House, so there hasn’t been a lot that’s happened out of my office other than the initial contact with the department at this juncture. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, firstly, we work with the Government of the Northwest Territories where we have a huge interest in alcohol education, through Health, through Active Living, through all of those other programs. As a commission, we label all of the bottles. We have the bags that are marked. We do posters. We do ads about responsible drinking, as well, as I indicated, to try to make sure that what we are doing is supportive and ties into the work that has been done by government departments such as Health and Social Services and Education. Trying to really push, for example, not having pregnant...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this point we are contributing $250,000 a year and there is a 20-year period where we can’t touch the principal.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would agree that we want to, in the coming year, as we look at increasing the amount of money we’re going to put into infrastructure, have a serious discussion how much of that money, that extra $50 million a year goes into energy infrastructure. We will be coming forward, as I have indicated a number of times now and the Premier has also made reference. We are going to come forward with a number of major initiatives, one tied to hydro in the North and South Slave focusing mainly initially on transmission and then we are, as well, going to lay out what we think is a...

That’s correct, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The subsidies are linked to the rates and as the rates of power go up, and we’ve been having the rate increases over the X number of years, even though they’ve been cushioned, the subsidy goes up commensurately, and they’re linked, so they’re going to keep moving together.