Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is the Behchoko access road and the Fort Liard access road are the two. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. The communities of Jean Marie and Nahanni Butte, if there's still work to be done, do they work with the regional office or do they have to make a submission because they're trying to get some work done? I know we've put some money into it already, and I appreciate that. What is their process? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member's question is kind of vague. Is he trying to build the whole thing, or for the Government of the Northwest Territories, what we're doing to work with these people? Back to the Nahanni Butte access road, we were working very closely with the community with them on capital improvements through the federal GNWT funding arrangements highlighted above. The department is also working with the private sector, the community, the Mine Training Society, and Aurora College to implement the heavy equipment operation training program this year.
The department will be committing approximately 10,000 cubic metres of granular material and assisting with the supervision of construction throughout the training portion through this partnership, widening, corner realignment, construction, multi-pullouts to help facilitate the increased traffic expected on the winter road, building community capacity and improve the condition of the access road, and the Mine Training Society, NorZink, Beaver Enterprises, and the community are working together to cover the costs, such as fuels, instructors' costs, and wages for training. So we are doing a significant amount with the community of Nahanni Butte on their access road, and the Member has already commented on what Sambaa K'e is doing.
The biggest thing, I think, to remember in this conversation is part of our 20-, 25-year transportation strategy. These things were not identified as priorities when we went out and consulted with the residents of the Northwest Territories, but we continued to work with both Aboriginal groups and these communities to help develop these access roads. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. I appreciate the Minister for providing that information. In regard to Jean Marie, we are not looking at a full-access road. What they are asking for is a number of locations. Is it something that they can use capital with, or is there funding out there aside from what is in this Infrastructure budget? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have committed some cap funding and worked with the community on what they are doing with their access road, particularly around that Nun Hill situation and the burn area that was rough for a number farmers. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. That was Sambaa K'e. I apologize if I misspoke. I was talking about Jean Marie River. Sorry. They were looking at a couple of sections that need to be enhanced. I know the government spent some quality money on it this past year, but they are looking at a couple of other spots. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. From 2014-2019, we actually did embankment and surface improvements, drainage improvements. They have been completed. We spent $728,000 doing that. In 2019-2020, we worked with Jean Marie and did additional embankment and surface improvement for $310,000. So we continue to work with the communities and, as funds become available, we will continue to work with them. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Next, we have Mr. McNeely.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to comment on pages 41 and 42, the project listing. I see, as identified on there, there are a number of both government and joint program funding. I am glad to see that the Department of Finance, with the appropriate department, in this case Infrastructure, worked conjointly to access and exhaust as many options of financing as possible. In the spirit of partnerships and collaboration, as our Premier mentioned here, it is identified here on page 42 with the recent announcement between this government and the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated to pursue jointly the environmental assessment for the Mackenzie Valley Highway, so I am glad to see and be part of the upcoming work for this capital. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McNeely. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Member's comments. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to get some of these projects to the shovel-in-the-ground stages, but we will continue to work with the Aboriginal governments and the people who that affects the most. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. McNeely. I will call the page. Infrastructure, asset management, infrastructure investments, $204,996,000. Does committee agree?
Agree.
Thank you. That brings us to programs and services, infrastructure investments, $63,459,000, with information on 45 and 46. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. There are a couple projects here I would like to ask some questions about. Whati transmission ICIP: can someone tell me whether that is connecting Whati to the existing grid near Behchoko? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the Member's question was in relation to a transmission line to Whati. That would complement the 13-megawatt Lac La Martre hydro project where it was eventually built. Whereas 1.2-megawatt mini-hydro facilities would compound the construction of future 13-megawatt hydro project, a 13-megawatt hydro facility is more cost effective than 1.2-megawatt mini-hydro as per megawatt bases, better serves future growth, and better reduces greenhouse gas emissions than would a mini-hydro facility. I hope that answers some of the Member's questions.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can someone tell me: I have a 2003 pre-feasibility study for hydroelectric on the Lac La Martre River. The predicted base load for the community was 1.2 megawatts. What is the capacity of the power line? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.
The capacity of the power line? Wow, you are asking for some serious detail, here. What I will read out here is what I have. The design and construction of the new transmission line from the Snare hydro system to the community of Whati, the transmission line starts from the Snare port substation and spans 60 kilometres to bring hydroelectricity to Whati, where generation is currently supplied from diesel. In 2021, $5 million work was for the pre-feasibility work to include ground-proofing and transmission-line routing, environmental baseline studies, engineering, and regional engagement and consultation. So I suspect we don't even know the exact size of that line based on that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. Why are we building a power line over from Snare to Whati for 13 megawatts of power when a community base load might be, maybe it is 1.2; maybe it has increased a little bit since then. Why are we building something that large to go over to Whati? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
I will respond first, Mr. Chair, through you. Then I will go to Minister Schumann, who the Member's question is for. We appreciate the Member giving us a bit of a heads-up that he was going to be asking some of these technical questions. We tried to get the information together. The one we didn't anticipate was the capacity on the lines, otherwise, we would have had that information, but we tried to get all the other information. Again, we appreciate the heads-up because the Member does ask technical questions, and we need our folks to put that information together. So, if we missed the one on the capacity of the line, then it's on me, and I will go to Minister Schumann through you, Mr. Chair, to expand on the Member's question.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Minister Schumann.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I said, we don't know the exact size of the line, yet. That has to be determined by our engagement in our pre-feasibility work, but I suspect we want to build this thing to not only supply the community of Whati and get them off diesel to lower our GHG emissions as part of our strategy going forward, but we also have to take a realistic look at the potential economic development in that region, and we will have to build in some capacity, I believe, to support some of those initiatives going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I see this project is going to take three years. Is there a ballpark figure that I can provide for the cost of this transmission line? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that we are still working on the figures. We want to try to be as accurate as possible before we bring those forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. My concern is that the Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation spent over $1 million looking at hydro potential for the community of Whati over the years, and now we are talking about building a power line over from the Snare system to Whati. That's something that is way larger than the capacity needed for the community.
The information that I got from the hydro tech consultant who did the 2003 feasibility study for the Whati indicated that we can have small hydro projects for Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti for probably the same cost, if not lower, than the cost of this transmission line and offset a lot more greenhouse gas emissions, provide probably enough electricity to heat those communities and cut the greenhouse gas emissions from them as well. That, to me, seems like a way better investment of money, but I just haven't got a sufficient rationale yet for the Whati transmission line. Is there any further explanation that the Ministers can provide? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. When they built the Mackenzie Valley fibre optic line, I think that we only needed 24 strands in that line to meet our requirements. The Minister of the day said, "How much more would it cost to double it?" They said it wasn't much more, so they doubled it to 48 strands with the anticipation that you have to start thinking about the future. It was going to be less expensive to do it now than to have to build it in the future.
We have one more day in session, and we have another week as Members, and I will commit to the Member that I will talk to the department and the folks that are involved to try to find a rationale for this particular project. Obviously, there is some thought to the future. I am not too familiar with this, and I apologize for that. What I am trying to do is work on a budget that is going to address our future needs and provide some opportunity for the present folks of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I know that I have one minute left on the clock. Is Fortune Minerals paying any of this cost, and is this really to facilitate their development in some way? Is this the Government of the Northwest Territories providing a public subsidy for the development of their project? Is that what this is all about? Could I get an answer? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure. I will have to have those discussions. If there is any kind of opportunity to work with industry that wants to make a profit but, at the same time, provide opportunities for northern people and northern businesses, then we have to work with them. What that consists of, I am not sure at this moment, but I had an idea that this is where this was going. The Member has clearly indicated his non-support of a capital budget of $417,000,000. That is going to provide opportunities and infrastructure for a lot of the communities across the Northwest Territories that are badly in need of this. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Any further questions from committee? Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 45, it's Fort Simpson LNG plant. Can the Minister just give us an update on the status of this project, please? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The status of that is they have done a feasibility report on that. New modular gas-generating plant and LNG storage and vaporization facility on the parcel of land outside the downtown core in Fort Simpson. Design basis engineering work has shown that the total project cost would be $13 million. This is much higher than the Inuvik project due to the fact that Fort Simpson is a greenfield project with no existing gas infrastructure. This is one of the infrastructure projects slated for funding under federal infrastructure funding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister McLeod. Mr. Thompson.
