Michael Miltenberger

The intention and plan is to have a document complete by March 2009. We are about halfway through the consultation process. We have been taking the strategy around the North. We have taken it up, for example, to the Sahtu water conference. We have consulted with the aboriginal governments. We have a working group that the Premier committed to forming to provide oversight. That document has been vetted, as well, by some of the best water people in the world in terms of making sure we have all the key elements and principles in our strategy. So that process and strategy is coming along. The...

It’s not on the list for the immediate future, so as we look at all these other documents and we look at requirements and priorities and needs, I would suggest that as we go to the next cycle, that would be the time for that discussion.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just suggest to the Member that his constituents should feel very proud that they’ve made such a significant contribution to a school that’s going to educate their children for decades to come. The community the size of Fort Good Hope now has a fine facility, which, he indicated, is over almost $20 million or thereabouts. It’s a significant investment, and it’s a shared investment now with both the community and the government. I think that’s something to be celebrated.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That’s beyond the scope of my knowledge, other than what’s in the capital plan. The Legislative Assembly maintains and looks after the building and grounds.

Mr. Speaker, the continued high cost of energy is an ongoing concern for people in the Northwest Territories. Many residents are making changes to reduce their energy use and costs. Many are taking advantage of our energy contribution programs to make these changes.

Last year our government paid out more than $165,000 in rebates through the Energy Efficiency Incentive program to residents who purchased energy efficient appliances and vehicles. The majority of 549 approved applications were for the purchase of new household or home heating appliances in communities in every region in the NWT.

We...

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I’ll commit that we’ll get the committee members an update on the status of the evaluation of the work that is being done on the facility usage for correctional facilities.

Mr. Chairman, it’s a point that we try to keep in mind. We strip down these proposals to make them as realistic and basic as possible, recognizing the significant costs. I appreciate the Member’s concern that there are skilled Northerners we can put to work in these areas. We’re definitely looking for those. A lot of these systems we are engaged with have proprietary information and specially trained folks. It’s a constant struggle to try to do those things, but they are things we try to keep in mind.

Mr. Speaker, we’re proceeding on the assumption, clearly, that we have hundreds of boards in the Northwest Territories in the area we’re talking about. Just between health, education and housing we have 70 boards. We’d like to streamline that down to be more efficient.

Over time we let things develop, often in an unplanned way. We intend to work closely with you folks in committee and all its members and committees of Regular Members to hopefully reach a consensus at the end of the day for a plan that’s going to allow us to rationalize, as the very first step towards boards and agencies across...