Wally Schumann

One of the key messages we heard coming out of the carbon tax public engagement was the concern over the cost of living, as we have said, and doing business in the Northwest Territories. The second part to considering a carbon tax is what will we do as a government with the revenue that is generated from a carbon tax.

I support using a portion of these revenues to offset the high cost of living in the Northwest Territories, for sure. The reality of the NWT is that we have a high demand and high prices already for fuel and electricity. While we want to continue to advance alternative energy...

First of all, I want to thank the Member for giving us a heads up on this question here. There are a bunch of things we have done in his riding. In Fort Simpson, we are looking at LNG. It was a commissioned study in 2016, a liquefied natural gas vaporization study. An LNG facility in Fort Simpson is being considered as part of the Energy Strategy and Action Plan, and that is in development right now.

We have biomass wood pellet in Fort Simpson. In 2012, it's a GNWT-owned biomass central heating system for the rec centre and the elementary school. Combined heat and power in Fort Simpson; the...

On this section of highway, we have a Government of the Northwest Territories employee and a maintenance contractor who inspect the highway twice a day to make sure the road is safe and cleared. If it is snowing or blizzardy and driving conditions are conditions that need to have the road closed, that will be informed and we will post that. There are protocols around highway maintenance of when the road needs to be plowed, and those are at the discretion of the maintenance contractor and the GNWT employee, and then they will follow up on that. For moving forward, being this is the very first...

We have our web page where we continually update the highway conditions of the highways in the Northwest Territories. The department also uses Twitter on a lot of occasions, because I always re-tweet out what the department is putting out there, from waits on winter roads to closures of the Dempster and such.

On the Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik Highway, I think a lot of people maybe even don't even realize they're driving by, because as the Member said, people don't pay attention to signage sometimes. At the beginning and at the end of both sections of the highway, there's a sign up there to say if...

Again, I agree with the Member. It's three times in a row. A project like this I think would be great for the region and will highlight travel through the Deh Cho, like I said, and highlight the Mackenzie River as such and whatever else we want to promote for the Deh Cho region. Again, I ask the Member to find someone who wants to drive this in his region and contact our department. We'll have a serious look at it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member's point is well taken. I travel this highway quite a bit, and there is no signage there talking about the Mackenzie River. The Mackenzie River is important, not just to his region, but to the whole Northwest Territories. It is how people travelled in this country for years and years. I think it is a good idea to celebrate this type of feature, but it is not something that will happen overnight. I suggest maybe to the Member that we find someone within his riding who we can partner up with, a group or an organization. We can have a look at this thing. Contact...

As the Member knows, the Minister of Finance has been working closely with the federal government to understand the full impacts of carbon tax on the Northwest Territories and the cost of living and doing business here.

In addition to that, though, the federal government tends to reflect the unique circumstances in the NWT. The Premier has had that commitment from the Prime Minister on this specific topic. Regardless of the carbon tax, our department is moving forward with our energy strategy, which will help with alternative and renewable options for people in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is actively considering the transmission expansion of the Taltson system into the communities of the South Slave in particular. This will be reflected in our 2030 Energy Strategy and Action Plan.

With that being said, we are looking at expanding into the Fort Providence and the Kakisa area. That is a 140 kilometre T-line expansion, and we are also looking at possibly expanding into the Whati off the snare system, which is a 65 kilometre expansion T-line section.

As for the Member's question around the Nahendeh riding, being part...

First of all, drivers must drive according to the conditions. The maximum speed is posted for optimum conditions, so if the highway is 100 kilometres per hour, that is for optimum conditions. If there is bad weather, well, then you have got to drive to those conditions. To ensure safety in the Northwest Territories, the highway system is a top priority of our department. We are always promoting safety as the number one thing. Driver education is one way that the department is working to communicate to residents in the Northwest Territories through advertising, enforcement, signage and such...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, our highway meets the national guidelines with respect to engineering, signage, and design posting limits along that highway. We've all had an opportunity and Cabinet has had a chance to drive it.

The further work that we're going to commit on signage going forward is there is going to be some information signage installed and some more delineators to add to driver comfort along the highway. We realize that this piece of highway is in one of the harshest conditions in Canada, or anywhere in the world, and people must have to drive accordingly through it. As...