Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once we have done our engagement on this, we would have to have a look at what we are doing. Then we would have to look, moving forward, what we were going to do. If we needed any extra money, we would have to probably have that discussion on our side of the House. If there was even money available to do it; it might be too early to tell. We have got to wait until we have finished the initiative. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to clarify, I will share it with the Members as soon as tomorrow even. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member is well aware, we have sent our staff in there along with the operator. Last year's incident, they met with the community along with our staff to discuss what happened last year and how we can best move forward. We are doing our due diligence. We have met with the operator last year.

We met with the department, as well, to discuss what happened and what we can learn from that moving forward. As far as the resupply of Deline, itself, we tend to do the other communities first to help the contractor build up the ice thickness to what it needs to be to access the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I've stated, we have the Energy Strategy that's going around; they're feeding information back to the department, not just on climate change and carbon tax but also Arctic Energy Alliance. We've committed that we want to do a review of Arctic Energy Alliance. As I said, some programs have fulfilled themselves and been quite successful. Things like the condo one that the Member has brought up, it's been actually moved to another line item there where people can still access that. If his particular neighbour is interested in doing something there, there is actually money...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That has made it through Cabinet already. Normally, we would wait until the budget procedure was done and we would bring that to committee, but I can make that commitment to sharing that with the Members. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to clarify that it is actually 36 days that cost us $1.8 million. I stand behind, as I have said on a number of initiatives, that we warrant that this initiative being put forward as a costsaving measure is justifiable, and we will stand behind it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So there's a number of things going on. We've got the Energy Strategy that's going across the Northwest Territories. As most Members know, we have three communities left, with Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Behchoko to go, that are going to feed into all of this. We're trying to pull a whole bunch of information together.

Actually, I guess another comment on the Energy Strategy: going around to the communities, there's been a bunch of feedback from Aboriginal groups, community organizations, and individuals on this particular program, on Arctic Energy Alliance. We want, at...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is my understanding it is an executive policy for doing that, so it would have to be part of the Executive. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the Member is well aware, this issue was put in place to help offset the concerns around Ikhil, Norman Wells, and Inuvik. We believe that moving forward, as the Member has alluded to in his comments in the House there, that we have learned how to operate this thing efficiently. The other thing that we have done at the same time is gather information, and we do not see that it warrants having this in place.

We believe that the accelerated ice road could be done with limited disruption, as the ferry was closed 40 per cent of the time, as I have said a number of times due...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to make it quite clear to the Members that I am not against this program. I love this program. We have distributed all the money for the last two years that I have been here, but right now with the present situation we have there is no extra money. If the opportunity comes in the life of this 18th Legislative Assembly to put more money into this program, I will gladly have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.