Michael Miltenberger

As he talks about our modest efforts and what he sees as miniscule goals and targets, we do have a project, just one project that I’ll point to which is the Taltson Hydro Project that could reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent. We know we are already saving thousands of tonnes just with the work the government has done, let alone all the things that are going to come into play. We’ve committed to and we are going to start the process in April 2010 to renew the Greenhouse Gas Strategy with a full intent to have a final product by April 2011. It will speak to a lot of the...

In case I hadn’t mentioned it, we are committing $60 million to this initiative. We finished year one. We are moving into year two. We are committed to community energy plans. We are also working very closely with all the other strategies within government. We are looking at government itself doing a significant number of retrofits. We are growing the market with biomass, with our efforts, with the communities, within government retrofits, within the private sector. We’ve also started discussions and planning in terms of inventory to see what type of biomass industry could be sustainable and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me is Mr. Warren St. Germaine, comptroller general, Department of Finance. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I am here to present Bill 2, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2009-2010. This bill requests authority for the forgiveness of certain debts listed in the schedule of the act.

Pursuant to Section 25 of the Financial Administration Act, the forgiveness of a debt or obligation to the government exceeding $1,000 must receive Legislative Assembly approval.

When a debt is forgiven, no further collection action shall be pursued. The forgiveness of certain debts being proposed in this act will not require a new appropriation. Allowances for doubtful accounts were charged to an appropriation at the...

Once again, the Member and I are aiming for the same goal. I have been suggesting and saying right from the start that, yes, we have to do these broad strategies. Yes, we have to have that long and intense debate about targets, standards. In the meantime, we should be doing things on the ground and we shared the information with the Members about the dozens of initiatives that Public Works has taken in its mandate for retrofits. We are doing some very innovative things with ground source heat pumps. We have initiatives with wind, we are moving on the mini-hydro with Lutselk’e, in addition to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This whole initiative going into year two is a major undertaking. We recognize that the Biomass Strategy is at a high level and as we work through our various energy plans, as we review and redo our Greenhouse Gas Strategy, as we look at all the other components of our Energy Strategy, that the debate and decision-making that’s going to take place with regard to standards and targets is going to flow from that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 65 years is more than any age of any of us sitting in this august Assembly. It’s decades longer than any warranty we’ll ever get. It’s the age of retirement, something to look forward to. In some parts of the world it’s the age of life expectancy, but today 65 years is a milestone that I’d like us to honour and recognize. We have with us in the gallery Mr. Al and Febula Bohnet, and today they’re celebrating a lifetime together of commitment, love and sharing going back 65 years today.

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This is an enormous accomplishment in this day and age. They’re...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, I appreciate the Member’s comments. Her observations, I think, are accurate, as well, in terms of the ongoing health care costs, and the issue of sustainability is a huge challenge for every jurisdiction. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These particular circumstances with children in southern placements and adults are constantly being assessed. There is a changing variety of presenting problems, multiple needs, many in high need categories, and the challenge is that you may only have one or two clients that have very specific high needs that can only be met in a specialized facility. If you have a number of those clients across a number of very expensive facilities, it limits our ability to meet all those different needs under one program area.

We did take a look at this, as the Member pointed out...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the advice from the Member.