Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people of Norman Wells were in the dark on December 21st not just because the sun went down early that day but because the town lost power around 5:00 p.m. and it was out for almost three hours. The backup generators did not come on.
NTPC dispatched a crew from Fort Simpson but it did not arrive in time. Where was our government?
It was 30 below and the town nearly faced a state of emergency. Where was our government?
Imperial Oil supplied power to Norman Wells and was having problems with its turbine. Imperial Oil has three turbines to support its operations. On December 21st only one was working and it failed. Where was our government?
If the power had stayed out any longer, Imperial would have shut down the town’s gas line to maintain its oilfield and not the town’s. People were left without heat and electricity. The mayor said, in that situation people would have been evacuated.
Pretty soon there won’t be any turbines working in Norman Wells. In October Imperial announced that it will stop supplying gas to the town in 2014. Norman Wells is one of those communities that want to be linked to the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline but the earliest that could happen is 2018, we hope.
There are some big problems in the way we supply energy to the Sahtu, an area we have some of the greatest potential. The town has met to discuss some of the options for a way forward. Why wasn’t NTPC at this meeting? Where was the federal government that owns one-third of this oilfield and scoops millions and millions of royalties every year? Where were our governments?
The people of my region want to know what is being done to make sure they’re not ever left in the dark. Can the real governments please stand up and help my people, not only take, take, take, take? Where is our government?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
