Debates of October 29, 2020 (day 45)

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is the plan with the whole energy strategy. I hate to keep going back to it, but there are some good projects and measurable results within the strategy that really puts to task some of our goals there. I do want to mention that the Taltson expansion is a long ways away. It's not going to happen overnight, and we need to secure some funding. We need to look at some business arrangement, go through the regulatory applications, the construction, tying in. We do have several programs to support this. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see the line item "Renewable Solutions for Off-Grid Diesel - ICIP" money. I am glad to see this. I am really excited for some of the potential for off-grid diesel and renewable solutions there. Can I just get the Minister to expand on what that item is, how much it is, and what it's trying to accomplish? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I ask what project he was referring to again? Sorry.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Understandably, we throw everything in this section from loaders to our technological service centre to power lines, but I'm looking at page 49, the third line down. We have renewable solutions for off-grid diesel. It's federal money, it's estimated to be completed in 2026-2027, so a long way off. How much money is that, and is it renewable diesel? Is that what this money is for? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a line item. There is no project identified yet, but we are working with communities to be able to discuss some of the options with that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to try one more time. Is this possibly money for renewable diesel, or is it just for getting communities that are on off-grid diesel to some other renewable source, and how much money is it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Madam Chair, it's used for renewables so the electricity or heat. I should probably answer that with the first question. I'm going to ask Mr. Loutitt to see if he wants to expand on this a little bit further. Unless we find the exact dollar amount. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Miinistere. Deputy Mniister Loutitt.

Speaker: MR. LOUTITT

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is an item that we would like to get back to you on. It is to do with solar and biomass, but we'd also like to extend an invitation to a presentation on our energy strategy to committee at their convenience. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, deputy minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One question which I've always had about Taltson and no one has really been able to explain it to me is: we want to expand our power, but we have some of the most expensive power in Canada. Part of that goal is to then connect maybe to Alberta, maybe to Saskatchewan, and sell that power, but their power is far cheaper than ours. Why has the plan never been to just simply connect to one of those southern jurisdictions and instead of expanding our very expensive and aged infrastructure just get into a power purchasing agreement and buy much cheaper power? There is something I'm missing, why that doesn't make sense. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm going to divert this to Mr. Loutitt. Thank you.

Deputy Minister Loutitt.

Speaker: MR. LOUTITT

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our long-term vision is to create more reliable power and be able to supply it to different areas within the Northwest Territories. The long-term vision is to connect to southern Canada. As we have these opportunities for hydro expansions, we feel that that can be part of our long-term vision. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Deputy Minister Loutitt. Noting the clock, committee members, I will now rise and report progress.

Report of the Committee of the Whole