WHEREAS, the role of Caucus is fundamental to the effectiveness of consensus government;
AND WHEREAS Caucus provides a venue for all Members to set broad strategic direction for a Legislative Assembly and discuss matters of widespread importance to the Northwest Territories;
AND WHEREAS the priorities established by a Caucus form the basis for government business plans and budgets prepared over the course of an Assembly;
AND WHEREAS the Caucus of the 17th Legislative Assembly agreed upon the vision, goals and priorities for action under the theme of Believing in People and Building on the Strengths of Northerners;
AND WHEREAS transition to a new Assembly is an appropriate time for reporting on matters of ongoing action, discussion and consideration;
AND WHEREAS Members of the 18th Legislative Assembly may wish to consider how to build on the direction and deliberations of the 17th Legislative Assembly;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, pursuant to Rule 88(1), the Legislative Assembly hereby establish a Special Committee on Transition Matters;
AND FURTHER, that the following Members be named to the special committee:
the Member for Sahtu, Mr. Norman Yakeleya, Chair;
the Member for Hay River North, Mr. Robert Bouchard;
the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Alfred Moses;
the Member for Kam Lake, Mr. David Ramsay;
the Member for Range Lake, Mr. Daryl Dolynny; and
the Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Tom Beaulieu.
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Special Committee on Transition Matters be established by the terms of reference, identified as Tabled Document 211-17(5).
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 49, An Act to Amend the Deh Cho Bridge Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Bill 49, An Act to Amend the Deh Cho Bridge Act, has had first reading.
---Carried
Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 12, Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act; Bill 36, Health and Social Services Professions Act; Committee Report 10-17(5), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2013-2014 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; Committee Report 11-17(5), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of Bill 12: Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act; Committee Report 12-17(5), Standing Committee on Social Programs Report on the Review of Bill 36: Health and Social Services Professions Act; Tabled Document 188-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2015-2016; Tabled Document 205-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 5, 2014-2015; Tabled Document 206-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2014-2015; and Tabled Document 207-17(5), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2015-2016, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
By the authority given to me as Speaker by Motion 10-17(5), I here authorize the House to sit beyond the daily hour of adjournment to consider business before the House.
Good afternoon, committee. I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wish to continue with Tabled Document 188-17(5), NWT Main Estimates 2015-2016, with the Department of Public Works and then the Legislative Assembly. We would then like to consider Tabled Document 205-17(5), Tabled Document 206-17(5) and then Tabled Document 207-17(5). Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We’ll commence after a brief recess.
---SHORT RECESS
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. I’d like to ask the Minister of Public Works and Services if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber. Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, I would.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
I’ll ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witnesses to the table.
Minister Beaulieu, for the record, could you please introduce your witnesses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. To my immediate right is the deputy Minister of Public Works and Services, Paul Guy. To my immediate left is director of corporate services, Steve Lewis, and to my far right, director, Technology Service Centre, Laurie Gault.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Members, we are on page 425, directorate, operations expenditure summary, $11.874 million, for the Department of Public Works and Services.
Agreed.
Page 426, directorate, active positions, information item. Questions?
Agreed.
Page 429, for those just joining us, energy, operations expenditure summary, $8.456 million. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have some general questions for the Minister on the petroleum products division and the energy conservation department here. I want to ask the Minister, in the government’s dealings, where are we receiving our fuel products from? Which country, which area, and how much are we receiving?
Thank you very much, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The fuel originally comes from a refinery in Edmonton and then from there we truck it to Hay River and distribute it from… Pardon me. We rail it to Hay River and then from there we truck it to the area. Right now we are trucking it to all the communities that we’re responsible for.
I understand, also, there are different times of the year that you purchase the petroleum products. Specifically, about the diesel and gas and mostly looking at the smaller communities, so all our fuel for the smaller communities – and I’m just going to stay with my region – comes from the Edmonton refinery? Is that where we’re getting our products coming from now?
Yes, currently that is where we are buying the fuel that is going into the Sahtu.
Thank you, Minister. I have two other themes here. The second one is, with the low prices of the fuel products, are we now into a position where we are now possibly saving money for our territorial government. I’m not too sure how long that will remain in the low bracket of pricing our fuel out. How are we doing comparing that to the biomass, the wood pellets, in regard to putting wood pellets into our communities and using that product now? Because at one time the diesel prices were quite high and so we started to look at other means of energy into our communities, especially into my region where it’s the capital of the oil in the Northwest Territories.
The Member is correct. As the House knows, we had lowered the fuel costs, using our Stabilization Fund, between 8 and 9 cents recently. Now that we’re finishing our deliveries, we’re seeing more savings and fully intend on lowering the fuel costs as we’re finished deliveries into the communities. At this point, even with the lower cost of fuel – and it’s a fairly substantial drop in the cost of fuel – biomass is still feasible. Maybe the payback would be extended a couple of years perhaps, but we were getting a fairly decent quick payback on biomass, so we still consider biomass to be a feasible way to heat.
I certainly have to clear it with the Minister that we want to use the biomass, and I just want to make a point that some things in life are unpredictable. Biomass, certainly now, if you look at it, if the Minister is to do an analysis, it is costing us a little more than the fuel right now, I believe, and it’s a different form of energy use in our small communities. I just wanted to raise that point there that hopefully one day we don’t have to go outside the Northwest Territories to use fuel. Right now we’re getting this from Edmonton.
On my last point, I want to raise the point that I appreciate the Northwest Territories Power Corporation putting in a solar power diesel plant in Colville Lake. Colville Lake also sits on a large field of natural gas. I’m not too sure why this government – maybe they have – looked at using the natural gas system to use it as an energy means for Colville Lake. It bewilders me as to we have these resources tapped into our region and they’re sitting there stranded. Colville Lake is one example. This is from one of the constituents in the region that pointed this out to me. Hopefully, that will have some other type of consideration and thinking as to the energy use in the Sahtu. We have the natural gas fields there, we have the Canol shale play that’s there, and we have the use of the Bear River hydro opportunity there for some use and we are looking at other ways to energize our homes and our businesses. I’m thinking here under this section.
Those are my comments. I appreciate the Minister working with the community and working with the region looking at ways that I’d like to continue to support the trappers and the hunters with their harvesting methods, their lifestyle on the land to see if there are ways we can reduce the cost of gas for community members for heating up their homes or for going out and practicing their way of life by harvesting wildlife and trapping and all the other good things that go along with being on the land. Those are my comments. I’m not too sure if there’s a question in there. Thank you.
In addition to biomass still being feasible, we know that it contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Also, in future, there’s a possibility that there may be an increase in the cost of the heating fuel. I know that the Member speaks about the traditional economy and that they need to have lower gas prices to pursue their hunting and trapping and so on.
So, our intent is this Friday in Colville Lake we will lower the cost of gasoline by 24 cents a litre. Also, in Fort Simpson right now, the Power Corp is installing solar panels at the NTPC generator, so they’re going to be looking at solar power to augment electricity in the community of Fort Simpson.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Very interesting, of course, to see this new division in the department, and maybe I could just start off by getting some clarity on how this department will work with others. I see an energy project-focused division that will lead the implementation of local renewable and alternative energy solutions in NWT communities. Obviously, we need community energy systems that would address the cost of living. That’s probably one of the biggest things along with greenhouse gas emissions. So we’re talking, to some extent, community energy systems. I have to wonder how this department will be working with the partners there, communities, say, for heating and perhaps the Power Corporation for power. Then, of course, with Environment and Natural Resource with their mandate on greenhouse gas emissions, particularly the Greenhouse Gas Strategy and the renewable aspect of renewable energy, forests and so on.
So just if I could get a little bit on this new mandate with respect to those aspects. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d like to have the deputy minister provide that information on the mandate of the new energy division.
Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Guy.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The energy division in the Department of Public Works is a consolidation of the function and energy planning in ITI, the alternative energy staff and programs that were in ENR and the goal of the Energy Corporation around developing energy solutions.
We’ve organized the department into those key areas called energy solutions, energy planning and policy and energy supply. The reason we’ve done that is to focus on a more project-oriented approach to energy, and also some of those integrated solutions that were mentioned in the question to be able to focus on energy solutions that may involve community energy systems, perhaps, or more combined heat and power, those types of things. As well, looking at things such as whether biomass can be used for generation, as well as space heating. Working closely, again, with ENR to support the Solar Strategy that’s already in place as well as to work with partners, such as the Arctic Energy Alliance, and getting some of the messaging and some of the success stories out around the work that we’re doing internally in Public Works and Services around alternative energy and energy efficiency. Some of the application of technology that we think can be deployed at the community level, both in community government buildings but also in the private sector buildings and in homeowners’ buildings.
So we want to use this as an avenue to get some of that messaging and information out as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Guy. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate those comments. The one thing I very rarely hear and I don’t think I heard again, was working with industry, which was, in fact, where our biggest growing use of energy is happening, and we know that our Greenhouse Gas Strategy is absolutely useless in terms of providing guidance for them. We know that we’re doing pretty good internally, but we’re not doing very well with outreach. Of course, the biggest one is industry, which, as far as I can see, is getting nothing in terms of the requirements, guidelines, direction on how to be more efficient and switch to renewable energy. How will this department be improving in those areas?
Thank you. I think as we move forward with the response to the Energy Charrette, implement some of those recommendations and direction that we’re given through the Minister’s Energy Coordinating Committee, we may have the opportunity to look at some of those things. I think there are some successes on the industry side where we can learn some things. We’ll probably have a lot of things that we can share with industry, as well, particularly in the area of biomass and some of the alternative energy, some of the solar work that’s going on. So I think there are some opportunities going forward through this division to start to look at some of those things. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate that. So, I would ask the Minister if he would indeed commit to, for example, approaching Diavik to learn about their wind project and how it might be considered in our communities, or some other model that they would recommend and how we can work with industry to establish standards that they must meet so that this isn’t a one-off thing that comes in towards the end of the life of a project. It is a requirement from the beginning, as the Diavik wind expert has recommended, and some of the other things that the deputy minister recommended, I appreciate sharing and supporting industry, but also putting in place some requirements for industry to participate knowing what we do about the status of climate change and the impacts to our people. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Beaulieu.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The department would have no problem with meeting with Diavik on their programs or energy-efficient programs. The decision on what type of stipulations that we put on industry in as far as energy conservation will be a government decision, not Public Works and Services’ decision. Thank you.
Could I get the Minister to agree that it is now the lead, Public Works and Services is now the lead in our Energy Policy, as per their description, activity description and that this would be appropriate for them to take on?
Thank you. Certainly, we would take the lead in the initiative. Again, we would work with other departments that are involved in the industry. Thank you.
I would hope so. Thank you. Hopefully, we’ve learned that we have to get all departments working together, but I appreciate this Minister taking the lead. I have taken the opportunity to discuss wind with Diavik. The experts there say wind, diesel and batteries are cookie cutter now. They are not experimental. We are way behind the eight ball on this. The Power Corp has not touched wind in 40 years. I’m very happy to see the work that’s being done in Colville Lake with this model because this model can work with solar as well. So we are doing solar in Colville, which is appropriate; they don’t have the wind power. We have lots of communities that are very, very expensive where wind, in combination with battery storage and diesel, are possible.
Will the Minister be starting to look at these alternatives and hopefully putting some of those on the table very soon, or perhaps passing this on as a highlighted priority to the 18th Assembly to consider? Thank you.
