Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present Bill 9, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Protection Act.

The purpose of Northern Employee Benefits Services, or NEBS, is to administer the pension and group benefits of participating employers residing in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

This bill provides protection from creditors for the pension entitlements of Northwest Territories members of the NEBS Pension Plan and restricts the ability of members to pledge as security their pension entitlements under the plan.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening remarks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct; for volumes of this nature we’d be looking at moving to a truck. There are suppliers in both communities, and once, if this money is approved, part of the planning is going to be for the suppliers to be prepared to upgrade their delivery capacity. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, the Member is asking me as a Finance Minister if I were to agree the rough estimate would be the figures he has quoted. I have no reason to disagree with that rough estimate, but there is still the planning and technical work to be concluded, but yes. We know how much the Tuk road is costing. We know what the construction costs are and that in the region that we have a ballpark idea of the amount of money we are talking about. Yes, it will be an expensive road. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is work being done on this project. We have to come forward when we have the facts, figures and clear estimates. It is very difficult to book a figure on a project that has not been quantified or technically fully assessed. We also collectively know that we have far more needs than we have resources. Aklavik road is there. Work is being done. The commitment has been made. We fully intend to honour the commitment and conclude the work so that we can move this project forward. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Supplementary Appropriation No. 1 (Infrastructure Expenditures) 2009-2010. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe at this point the Minister responsible for Public Works and Transportation can provide some more detail.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have that information with me to be able to say with any certainty.

Out of that $20 million a year, this is $2.5 million. We have about $6.9 million that looks at a whole host of other projects. For the first year, Lutselk’e, Whati hydro, that Fort Providence transmission line, Bear River feasibility, natural gas conversion feasibility, the Hydro Strategy, in-stream hydro projects, we’re looking for some money for the electricity review. We have another $3.8 million for different biomass and wind energy in the Beaufort-Delta. We’ve tried to be as comprehensive as possible. As well, we have the $3 million a year for the commercial power subsidy for the small...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I give notice that on Thursday, March 12, 2009, I will move that Bill 16, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2009-2010, be read for the first time. Thank you.