Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All of us in this House swore allegiance to the King of England and, you know, some of us begrudgingly but, Mr. Speaker, there is one monarch we can all support, and that is the Snowking, Mr. Speaker. And I am happy to report, Mr. Speaker, that the snow castle is officially open today and thanks to the support of some generous MLAs, it is free for all Members to attend today. 28 years, they've been building the snow castle, Mr. Speaker. I encourage everyone to get down there, enjoy it. There's a great lineup of shows and events, lots of good concerts and fun for the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's also one of those kind of not something to celebrate that we have three youth in jail but sometimes that facility is also empty. I'm just wondering if the Minister can speak to whether when that facility has, you know, zero or one inmates that it still incurs the same amount of costs, or is it essentially just the guards will move over to NSCC, or is there kind of a fixed operating cost for that facility at all times whether it has inmates in it or not, the youth one? Thank you.

Yeah, I guess I complain about reviews sometimes but I've seen some reviews lead to really good results. And I think this is one where there probably needs to be a rethink. Even a wellrun community justice committee with a good staff person is pretty limited in what they can do. You know, they can hold a couple meetings and they can work with the accused and get them to do some volunteer service but they're certainly not able to get to run any sort of larger programming.

And I think that's the step that's missing. I'll frame that in a bit of a question. I see there's some federal money flowing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at page 299. I'm looking at the community justice funding line. I see in last fiscal it was about $5 million and now it's about $3.3 million. Can someone just explain to me it appears it got some onetime funding last fiscal and now we don't have it, but what's going on there? Thank you.

We've got 10 pages today, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its report on Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, and commends it to the House.

Bill 60, An Act to Amend the Petroleum Products and Carbon Tax Act, received second reading on November 1, 2022 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.

The current carbon tax law sets a tax on six fuel types that, together, cause 75 percent of the

territory’s greenhouse gas emissions. The tax rate depends on the emissions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a lot of overhauls; I'm glad to hear that. I'm curious whether there is any plans to increase capacity on the Snare Hydro System or whether any of these overhauls will actually result in that? I note that about 20 percent of our power here is actually from diesel at Jackfish because of water levels and lots of different problems that occur at Snare over time to time. And there's no way that that system has capacity to open up another mine on it, allow for electrification of vehicles, or population increases. So are there any plans to increase capacity in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Snare Hydro System is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, which is perhaps not something to celebrate, and that's approaching the end of its life and replacement costs of hydro systems are in the billions of dollars, Mr. Speaker. Not a number any of us are happy to see. I know the system is actually it's something like seven turbines at four different locations that have been built up over the years at different times. But I'm hoping the Minister can provide me with what is the end of life for any of the current infrastructure at Snare? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair, I guess just a bit of a comment. There is a couple private sector operators who are now at multiple years waiting for a response on their commercial lease applications to open some cabins and potentially rent them out. There is also multiple people who have expressed to me that if they were allowed to rent out for any commercial purposes their cabins that they would gladly do that. So perhaps just the Minister could have a conversation with her colleague at the Department of Lands and see what barriers, you know, exist in regulation and/or in accessing leases to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I saw that there's an engagement and a land use permit going in to expand the parking when you get to the end of Tibbitt Lake at the end of the Ingraham Trail. Happy to see that. Happy to see that the signage has been added. I'm just hoping the Minister can clarify whether that's ITI or infrastructure money or operations or capital money, where exactly that money is coming from? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Committee would like to report on its consideration on Bill 66, An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act, as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.