Norman Yakeleya

I understand the frustration from Liard residents and people in Fort Simpson about the road closure. I understand completely, because I come from a region that doesn’t have a road. I know the frustration the residents are talking about. I would share my frustrations with the Member here. We are moving on this road. We are looking at what we can do. We are looking at how we can get this road back into drivable condition.

We did have a road that was transferred by the federal government to this government. The standards weren’t up to par, so we are reconstructing roads right across the North to...

Mr. Speaker, if I were to reach out, I would have other MLAs question me.

Mr. Speaker, we have looked at the road. We have a plan in place. Again, with the weather being on our side, Mother Nature plays a big part in terms of how much work we can get done. We want to do rebasing of that section. We are looking at it. I will instruct my officials to come back and look at the options. This is going to cause us a lot of hiccups during this season. We would have to look at a bypass that would at least be less disruptive to the travelling public of Nahendeh. I will get back and keep the Member...

Mr. Speaker, we’ll have to wait for the bridge.

I will call my officials this afternoon, and we will, hopefully, have some discussions on the bypass road and see what type of work is being done so far. If a bypass road is something that we have to do, we will do it for the travelling public. However, I would like to first speak to my officials, and I will keep the Member informed in terms of the options that he’s talked about today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The challenge of Highway No. 1 has certainly been a very frustrating point in our work on Highway No. 7 with our department and our contractors. Work is being done in terms of Highway No. 7 reconstruction. We are digging up that part of the section. What we want to do is take part of the section, dig it up, put the proper basing in there to rebase the road, and then reconstruct it to a passable section of road. We are looking at options in terms of how we can keep traffic moving between Fort Liard and the other communities, so we will take the Member’s suggestion. If it...

I will also let the Member know that I also come from a community that has high power rates, high energy issues. In terms of our communities, certainly the energy committee will be looking at the merits of a one-rate zone. We’ll be having discussions with Members from the House to look at the best options and what avenues we have available for us to implement whatever recommendation we agree would see a rate zone stabilized or a rate zone that would be satisfactory to the people in our communities.

Mr. Speaker, someone once said that the North has two seasons. The first season lasts about nine months and is called the winter season. The second season is very short, lasting only about three months. This short season is called the road construction season.

This road construction season, reconstruction, drainage, surface and grade improvements are proposed across the entire surface-transportation system. This work is already underway to improve our aging infrastructure and maintain a safe and reliable system. In the North our construction season is very short, and to get things done we have...

Mr. Speaker, I do apologize for not answering directly to the Member. If the House does wish to pass a motion to have the Auditor General look into our Crown corporation, if it pleases the House.... We have accountants, and we have the Public Utilities Board that scrutinizes very well in terms of our operations. If he does have a motion in the House, that is something we certainly will look at.

As the Member is well aware, this was at one time and possibly still is an issue to be discussed. The corporation has had consultants, has had some experts look at the bonus system. We now have an at-risk pay system for our senior management. We have made a huge reduction in terms of at-risk payments in terms of work to our senior management team. This was brought forward to the Public Utilities Board, which reviewed it and gave the stamp of approval for our operations within the NTPC management.

For me, certainly along with the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee, Members have a role. I look forward to some good discussions with Members of the House in terms of our rate structure, our power and the high costs of our communities. My understanding is that we request the dividends from our Crown corporation, and from there we top up the dividend in terms of the surplus. We requested that from NTPC.

We certainly look forward to having some further discussions in terms of the operations of NTPC and remind the people of the North that the Public Utilities Board scrutinizes every step we...

Mr. Speaker, the question raised by the Member is very good. I'm being notified by the Crown corporation board of directors through the chairperson. The Crown has its own strict guidelines and legislation. When they go before the Public Utilities Board, they file the GRA. However, the Minister is aware and is in contact continuously with the chairperson of NTPC.