Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be brief. Mr. Speaker, it maintains flexibility in how the revenues are used by the Government of the Northwest Territories, in short. So much as I had feared, the federal government, of course, once again changed their goalposts first back in April, which is what led to some lengthy discussions in this House in the last Assembly, and then again in the fall. And they changed those goalposts based on political priorities. They're set from Ottawa and by a different government.

By hanging on to the system by administering it ourselves here, we were able to do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a number of different conversations happening both between the Government of the Northwest Territories as well as the Northwest Territories Power Corporation along with the Tlicho government. I make note, firstly, that we were all at Roundup together recently, both the Department of Infrastructure and, I think for the first time ever, the CEO of the power corporation also has attended, as did representatives of the Tlicho government, including the grand chief, and it was a very good opportunity to, I think, begin to advance some of these discussions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Yukon and Nunavut are under, long before we did, many, many years ago created their systems with the federal system. At this point, we would come in under the federal system much like Alberta and Manitoba and others did when the last round of changes came through. So, and I wouldn't I mean, I can certainly provide a more detailed comparison between the Yukon system and ours and between Nunavut's system and ours. There's differences in terms of the rebates that go to individuals. There's differences in the rebates that go to businesses, including...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's quite a bit of work underway already with respect, as I've said, to different phases of the project to the extent that they're known. So, again, planning study that was completed with the TlichoKiewit partnership, that was completed already in 2023. So, again, that does suggest that there is a good working relationship in existence. There does need to be some further conversation with that partnership in order to determine what the next steps would be based on their planning study. But phase 1 is where we would get to a point of having a more shovel...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that I've got some notes. They're in a paragraph, and that's not going to be a good way for me to answer a question on the floor of the House trying to get numbers like this. But certainly I can give a general and I certainly don't want to miss out on the amount of money that's been secured. That's my bigger concern here. There's been money that's going back to 2022 that has already been that's already been secured. We are working with the Tlicho/Kiewit partnership. They are doing planning studies. And so at this point, the project is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No hesitancy required. Bringing down the cost of living is something that, I think as perhaps Minister of Finance as well as infrastructure, I'm certainly alive to and keen to see happen for our residents across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, that is a bigger, much bigger conversation. It's not only about corridors for roads, barges, ensuring our airlines can land in small communities. That is something top of mind for me. Perhaps focusing on my transportation portfolio, which I think is where the Member's at, I can say I'm at a transportation Ministers meeting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware of any studies or plans that would propose an allseason road to Lutselk'e. But I do want to address the other comment that there's been nothing in writing. I'm new to this portfolio, and I'll certainly commit to making sure that we do provide the information that I have available regarding what studies have been done, what efforts have been made, and some of the challenges that are faced so that there's a thorough understanding of that. But from that point on, we can hopefully get to a conversation about what is possible in these next four...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly put it on my colleagues' radar that this may be an item that's coming before them. That said, it likely is more under if it's a heat sale, it may or may not fall under the or under the Public Utilities Board. So what I certainly will commit to do is going back to the department to see where a next step for us might be, but I think further to that would be a conversation with the city, which, again, certainly as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we do have regular conversations with the city. So that might well be the next point...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully that means I have time to answer both. I'm happy to do so. Yes, the department is aware of this study and, in fact, I understand may have had a role in doing some review and support in terms of the work that was in the background on that study. So, in fact, more than merely aware of it. I'm also aware of it. It's on my radar now. I had not read all 109 pages but I've gone through some of it.

And as far, though, as next steps, Mr. Speaker, it's an opportunity where there would have to be proponents. This study is speaking about potentially changing the way...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that there's been any study per se commissioned. I can say the department is aware of the kind of regulatory systems that might exist for large scale infrastructure projects being the Department of Infrastructure. I can say any regulatory process would depend on the nature of the project and depend on the scale of the project. Really being here, typically being Yellowknife, it would largely be the city's processes and bylaws that might be the first point of call as well as potentially some oversight by the utilities board depending upon the...