Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Madam Chair. So thank you for that answer, for the detailed answer. So just to clarify, though, that during proceedings, during the public portion of an environmental assessment when, you know, evidence is being presented, like, those subject-matter experts and maybe they're, you know, water scientists, hydrologists, or maybe they're biologists, do they -- do they get to publicly present the information they have that they think it's important to know about the potential impacts, say, of a road, or are those presentations -- you said that they get to inform infrastructure officials...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can you also clarify, so they're in charge of the administration of public land. Is that land only outside of municipal boundaries and does it include, like, settlement lands that have been settled within Indigenous land claims? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'll -- my final question here, my colleague was talking about the environmental audit, and we see here that there's no money at least listed in the budget to cover the cost of doing the NWT environmental audit. And my impression was that this was a year when we were going to be doing a new audit. Can the Minister explain whether we are intending to do the environmental audit independent review this coming year, and if so, where the money's going to be coming from. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Okay. Thanks for that. That's something we can follow up on in our discussions.

Under the transboundary waters -- the line item under transboundary waters, can the Minister explain why last year's revised estimates went way up to $1.18 million. Perhaps just jog our memory, and then why we're back down to 285 for this coming year. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do understand that the business plan speaks to the energy strategy, and there are things contained within the energy strategy. One of those is a goal, at least in the previous iteration of the 2030 Energy Strategy, a goal to increase commercial, residential, and institutional building energy efficiency by 15 percent. But can the Minister explain what practical steps the government is taking to actually achieve that goal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I mean, one area that the GNWT did manage to find funds in the last year was for Arctic Energy Alliance to work with homeowners in Norman Wells to look for energy efficiency opportunities. So I wonder if the Minister could explain what successes or lessons learned have come from that initiative which we were able to find funding for this past year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Infrastructure. So the Arctic Energy Alliance has experienced major funding reductions in recent years and struggle to meet the huge demand from NWT residents, businesses, and community governments for its programs and services. And as of October of 2024, they had actually run out of money for their energy rebate programs and were no longer accepting applications. So given the reductions in federal money for energy efficiency rebate programs, has the GNWT considered stepping in with territorial money to support those programs...

Mr. Speaker, we've talked a little about energy initiatives in this House, renewable energy projects, opportunities for local gas development, but we hardly ever talk about energy efficiency; how we can help community members and local businesses avoid using so much energy in the first place. Too often, when we're tightening our belts, we consider energy initiatives as a luxury we can't afford.

Mr. Speaker, wasting energy is a luxury we can't afford. In each year's budget, we devote more and more millions to energy subsidies, electricity rate subsidies, seniors' home heating subsidies, fuel...

Okay, no, thanks for that update. That's great to know what some of the barriers are but also what work is being done to move through it as I think we can all agree that getting more people into the workforce is one of our highest priorities in this Assembly, and apprenticeships and things like the SNAP program can be great ways to do that. I'll leave it there for now.

I have a question about a few of the information items, but I'm hoping we'll have a chance to ask a few questions about that. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a few questions about the business plans, and I feel like this is as good an item as many to address them in. They probably touch on several.

But one of the goals in the business plan is to undertake regular evaluation of programs and services to ensure cost efficiency and to have a mechanism for regularly reviewing and updating infrastructure fees and roles, and it looks like the goal is to review two programs each year. Can the Minister explain what are the two programs that have been chosen for review this year and why those were determined to be the highest...