Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’re very interested in pursuing biomass initiatives. There are those projects underway in the community, as the Member indicates. As we achieve success, we’re interested in looking at those. There are other ones with the Willows and waste heat. I commend Fort McPherson, as well, for their initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Mr. Ernie Campbell and Ms. Susan Craig from Environment and Natural Resources, the deputy minister and finance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do. I am pleased to present the 2015-2016 Main Estimates for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Overall, the department’s estimates propose a decrease of $112,000, which is less than 1 percent over the 2014-2015 Main Estimates.

These estimates continue to support the objectives of limiting expenditure growth in order to sustain the long-term sustainability of the fiscal framework.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

$1.5 million for the continued implementation of the Water Stewardship Strategy, including the implementation of transboundary...

Those are all legitimate, real concerns that we are as well very cognizant of, and as we plan to affect repairs, those are issues that are being addressed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They are looking at the repairs. We, earlier on, made a contribution of $20 million to the Power Corporation to offset some of the diesel requirements due to the low water. This is related but not directly tied to that. However, we had anticipated that we would be saving some money with the lowering price of diesel and that we will be using that $20 million to offset the additional diesel costs as the appropriate repairs are affected. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his comments in regards to the morel mushroom situation. Our plan A is to come forward in time for passage in the May/June session with a very small amendment to the existing Forestry Act that will give us authority to manage the morel mushroom situation. At the same time, over the longer term, the plan is to come forward and bring renewal or redoing of the Forestry Act to bring it into the 21st century. That will be a longer term project that will take place in the life of the 18th Assembly.

Plan B is if we can’t get that small, modest amendment...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his comments. In regards to the fire crews, I’ll let the deputy speak to that.

As well, I appreciate the comments about the Take a Kid Trapping. Those programs will continue to provide a high level of service in that regard.

In regards to the half-time position, at this point there are no plans to increase that to a full-time, but we will make note of the community’s interest in that area and will ask the deputy to speak to the fire crews. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This particular board has bylaws where folks are appointed, but there is no end date to their terms. That’s one issue. At least one of the members has been on the board since 1997. That’s another issue. In the Northwest Territories in my time in government, my time in government period, the whole goal has been to put Northerners in positions and on the boards where they are making decisions about activities that affect people of the Northwest Territories, the whole thrust of devolution. So when the opportunity came that the board bylaws were going to be redone, that...

I would argue quite strenuously that the $82 million investment in the Fibre Optic Link is just the kind of investment that the Member is talking about. We’re putting in critical economic infrastructure that helps create the conditions for development.

When you are in business, there are all sorts of write-offs, depreciation, capital investments, construction investments that can be written off. So, once again, the Member is making a fairly sweeping statement. He’s decided that the focus should be a certain aspect of the telecommunications industry and it’s not clear enough to me how he would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we are doing as a government is investing over $80 million in a Fibre Optic Link that’s going to go all the way up and down the valley. It’s going to hook in all the small communities. It’s going to create tremendous business opportunity for the final mile piece in the communities in terms of all the services that need to be provided for, the infrastructure to support those services.

So we see this approach, and the Member touched on it in his statement, about it’s not so much the taxing, it’s the creating the conditions for economic development and that’s what we...