Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Chair, let me speak specifically to the Power Corporation and the issue of the electricity. Should we be able to finalize the arrangements for liquid natural gas, that will be an all-in cost per gigajoule that we are of the opinion if things hold constant with what we know so far, it will be significantly cheaper than what is currently available in Inuvik right now. That will be funded through that price per gigajoule that we would sell the product for and we’d capture any capital expenditures that would be required to ready the…mainly dealing with storage. The Power Corporation in Inuvik...

Yes, Mr. Speaker

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to the fracking and the comments from the Member, the Member is correct. This is a procedure that there are risks. There is no doubt. The work we are undertaking is to see how we can achieve that balance, if we intend to proceed, between the fracking and the protection of the environment. How do we do that? We know that there are chemicals. We are going to come out with the guidelines. We are going to be working with committee. We are going to have to collectively come to grips with this. By the fall, we hope to be able to do that.

In regard to our water being...

Mr. Speaker, we approved the capital plan last fall, in November I believe it was, where we laid out the fiscal arrangements, the capital plan that we can afford on a go-forward basis. That detail was laid out before Members, before this House. We are going to be involved in another capital plan going forward.

Not being able to use props and hold up charts and show them the fiscal strategy, I can tell the Member, and as the Member well knows, we have some very, very competent people in Finance who laid out the plan. We’ve had input in it. We have put in the key critical infrastructure...

A response to some of the concerns, there is a Pathfinder in Inuvik, his name is Donald Andre and he’s there to provide that support in the region. I think there’s another one in Simpson and another one in Tlicho and Norman Wells.

There is wind energy. There’s $100,000 in wind energy but it got put in under the Alternative Energy Program. And we’ve had an expression of interest from Paulatuk. We did a lot of work in Tuk initially, but they sort of put their efforts into natural gas so Paulatuk indicated an interest.

The $200,000 in business support programs has been moved to the commercial...

Yes, as we come forward with the guidelines, they will be public. We are looking at best practices across the land, and full disclosure of fracking contents is one of those very critical issues so that there is awareness and understanding. As we try to manage the balance, between the environment and resource development, we have to know those critical factors. So as the guidelines go forward, that has been identified across the land as one of the best practices that jurisdictions are putting into place, and we are wanting to learn from other jurisdictions in terms of best practices. Thank you.

Thank you. The intent with the Power Corporation, we’re focusing on generation of electricity. We’re a major customer in the community. We’ve been on diesel for a while now, ever since we got the word that the gas was being depleted, so that we would free up as much gas for the community as possible.

As we proceed on the liquid natural gas initiative, clearly there’s going to be opportunities for the community-at-large to take advantage of this as well. We have to look and balance the costs that are going to be there with liquid natural gas versus the projected costs for the synthetic gas...

Mr. Chair, I can’t say, with any degree of definitiveness, that that discussion has been held. I can tell you that wood chips are very labour intensive when you are operating 24/7 on essential services heat in the wintertime especially. I will raise the issue with the Minister of Public Works and Minister of Health, but I’m not sure if wood chips has been actively considered just because it is a whole different… It gets you into a whole different area of issues to deal with in terms of staffing and harvesting locally and having dry wood, especially during tough times like Christmas and New...

In that particular chapter, there is a recognition and an opportunity that should there be heretofore undiscovered waste sites, there’s an opportunity for the parties to get back to the table to discuss the fate of that particular waste site. Thank you.

Thank you. The Power Corporation is working hard to conclude some of the arrangements. So I’m hopeful that in the life of this sitting that we’d be able to stand up and make a public announcement. What we are looking for, or the long-term target, of course, that we’re looking for, is to be – if all things fall in place as we’re planning – by this coming fall, in October, November, in Inuvik we’d be able to have an alternative source should we be able to confirm and sign all the necessary contracts to, in fact, embark on putting in liquid natural gas as an alternate source. So within the life...