Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Supplementary Appropriation (Operations Expenditures) No. 3, 2009-2010.

Mr. Speaker, as a government we are funnelling enormous amounts of money to the communities. We have increased that funding year after year, infrastructure money, gas tax money, community capacity money. We now have the majority of the $60 million. We have, in fact, had discussions with Deline. We had discussions with Tulita. We have had discussions with Fort Good Hope over their concern about hydracon, running the river with hydro. We have had discussions with almost every community. Communities are doing the community energy plans. We are helping fund that. We are involved across the board...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am responding. Clearly, the Member doesn’t like the response, but I am responding in considerable detail. I’ve given her 60 million reasons why we are responding in the way we are and the work we’re doing with communities across the land from the 60th parallel up to the Beaufort-Delta.

Mr. Speaker, let’s take Tuk for example. That was a project that was brought forward by the Inuvialuit up in the Beaufort-Delta. They’ve been pushing it for a long time. By making the decision to put $60 million into a fund, we had the capacity to move on that. Mini-hydro in Lutselk'e, same thing. We’ve committed to getting hydro into Whati; huge community involvement. They’ve been pushing that. We’re committed to work with the Tlicho in Whati to sort that out. Those are examples and they’re across the North. We’ve done that geothermal in the Deh Cho. I mean, there’s a long, long list...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d suggest to the Member that this Legislature has made a conscious commitment to set up a government-wide, territorial-wide green fund filled with $60 million, funded by $60 million, for projects across the land in a whole host of areas. We have the capacity, as a Legislature, to set up funds. We’re coming forward here in the next week to table our heritage fund proposal for consideration. So it’s a decision of the Legislature, but I would suggest that, clearly, we’ve already put some significant resources into a government-wide fund for those very purposes. Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, Mr. Peter Vician, deputy minister of ITI, and to my right, Ms. Nancy Magrum, director of shared services with ITI and ENR.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of fairness, the Member keeps throwing it about that somehow it is not fair. We have put $60 million in as a Legislature, the first Legislature of the 16th Legislature to make that kind of an investment in the communities. We’ve put in unheralded and unprecedented amounts of money into communities to help improve community governments to give them access. We have changed the rules so they can have more ownership. Are we being fair? I think we are. Is the system perfect? We think it can always improve. In this Legislature, as we are going to do with the heritage fund...

Mr. Speaker, we are all talking about I think the same thing. We have $60 million. The majority of that money is going to be directed to projects and work in the communities. The government is doing some work on its own, but by far and away the vast amount of that money, that $60 million over four years, is targeted towards communities. Now, if the Member wants it to be structured differently, if the Member wants that $60 million pot to be called a green fund, I mean, we can talk about the process and the structure, but we have a huge initiative underway, and this is into year two, to do the...

Mr. Speaker, we would have to, of course, point to the gas tax money and infrastructure money that’s flowed to communities; New Deal money. They have the capacity to plan their own projects. They know that there’s an availability to come to government. They also have the ability now, as far as I recollect, to, in fact, borrow money. So they would have to look at that. If they need extraordinary financing they would have to talk to organizations. MACA would be there to provide advice. So that potential is there already. Thank you.

I’d point out to the Member we have the wind energy proposal coming out of Tuk that’s going to be funded. We have mini-hydro out of Lutselk'e that’s going to be funded. We’re looking for pilot projects. We’re looking at some of the communities like Jean Marie. We’re looking at waste recovery at specific communities that have come forward. So, once again, I’d suggest to the Member that the process we’re setting up is based partially on government retrofitting its own buildings, but the majority of that money is targeted to go to communities. We’ve got extensive money in there for rebates and...