Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the more important question is, given the Member’s acknowledgement or description of, in his mind, the shortcomings of what the government is doing, what does the Member suggest we should be doing differently that we’re not currently doing, given that we’re on the eve of moving into yet another business planning process?

Mr. Speaker, high electricity costs are a fact of life in the North and are a significant component of the cost of living for the people of the Northwest Territories. External factors like global energy prices, our remote location and lack of economies of scale all contribute to high costs in our communities. Some costs of producing and distributing electricity in the NWT can be controlled, however, and the Government of the Northwest Territories remains committed to managing these in order to keep costs for our residents as low as possible.

Last December I updated Members of the Legislative...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 2, Interim Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2012-2013, be read for the third time.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 2, Interim Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2012-2013, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Friday, February 17, 2012, I will move that Bill 3, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2011-2012, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, we are fully engaged with DND both in terms of the immediate response, looking at what happened. As well, we have folks looking at what caused this, what needs to be done in the future, the issue of accounting that the Member has talked about. We are engaged and we will be fully engaged with them until this whole matter is put to rest.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Devolution clearly is a priority of this government, but clearly in this instance I agree with the Member, it’s not germane to the matter at hand. Yes, NTPC is hard at work on their general rate application. As well, we are hard at work in making sure we get power up and running and we get off diesel. We’ll be sorting through as they do the debrief of what happened, and look at where the costs and all the things that happened that contributed to this unfortunate circumstance to see where obligations lie. We will follow up once that’s done.

As I’ve indicated, we’ve set the target for ourselves at reducing our emissions to 2005 levels or less. If that is through the course of the business planning process not deemed adequate by the Legislature and committees as we come forward, we will look at making whatever adjustments are agreed to. This is the result of the Greenhouse Gas Strategy that was just renewed at the tail end of the last Assembly. Of course, it’s subject to ongoing review and we’ll be happy to work with Members opposite as we go through the business planning process.

This is consensus government and we’re in this together. The Member brings decades of experience, knowledge and skill on this issue to the table. It would be a shame if it wasn’t fully incorporated into our thinking. We do rely on his advice in terms of what he would suggest.

We have laid out a plan. We have the Greenhouse Gas Strategy. We invested tens of millions of dollars into alternative energy, solar energy, building standards, any number of areas, waste reduction, all that have energy components, all that have climate change implications. We’ve spent millions on adaptation and we’re...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to rise as well. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to recognize a Metis boy from Fort Smith who made good, who came to the big city, who has been a colleague and a friend for many years, and no matter how long he lives in Yellowknife, he’ll always be a Metis boy from Fort Smith.