Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask some questions to the Minister of Finance. This morning I heard the Minister of Finance on CBC talk about the budget, and one part that he mentioned was about the Inuvik gas situation and he also added in a couple comments on the Norman Wells gas situation.
I want to ask the Minister what type of support will he be giving to the residents and to the businesses of Norman Wells once they make a decision as to what types of options they have to convert household supplies and appliances and also for the businesses to also convert to either propane, diesel or any other options that we see viable.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regard to Norman Wells, we have assurances from Imperial Oil, and NTPC will still be able to operate on gas, which takes a huge pressure off of the community, unlike Inuvik where we have had to switch NTPC to full diesel to protect and extend the gas reserves for the citizens of Inuvik. We also have ongoing work with consultants, and folks at ENR are looking at other options in terms of the biomass, in terms of some people wanting to switch to diesel and looking at, with consultants, what would be the best plan and the most feasible alternative for when the day comes when there is not gas available to the people of Norman Wells. As that work progresses and it becomes clear what the options are, we will continue to work with the community, with the MLA trying to sort out the best way forward. A lot of individuals are also making their own determination that they are going to switch already. Thank you.
The government has supported the thinking with the Town of Norman Wells as how to best utilize their time, because Imperial Oil for 2013-14 will turn the gas off to the town, and the residents and businesses. We need to help them with their conversion of appliances. They are looking at options such as propane, diesel and biomass. It’s going to be a mixture. Hopefully one day they’ll have an easy conversion back to the natural gas situation.
I am asking this government, once the dust has settled, is this government going to be in their capacity to help the people and businesses to convert their appliances to whatever they choose to do to use that sort of energy, whether it is biomass, propane or diesel? Will the government have some financial support to help them offset their cost to conversion?
The Government of the Northwest Territories has been involved in this process, a party to the work that is underway. We have a commitment and an obligation, as we have assisted in the past in Inuvik when they converted from the high temperature system to natural gas, to work through the process with the community and to make sure that we are there to assist so that there is not an undue burden placed on individual citizens of Norman Wells. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Town of Norman Wells, because of the strict discipline financial fiscal policy they have, they had surplus money. When the situation became an issue for them, almost a crisis stage, they had to use their surplus money to help them keep the light and heat on in their houses. They applied for extraordinary funding from MACA, which MACA said no. They told them they are not eligible and besides you have extra money, so once you guys use that. They are suffering in the town of Norman Wells because they had to use their extra money that they want to do other things with, but they had to do the right thing, which was to keep the lights and heat on. That’s why I’m asking this government – we have been stung once – will we get stung twice in terms of the conversion, in terms of how this government here can be relied on to help the Town of Norman Wells? Their taps are being turned off.
Mr. Speaker, the reality is, for all of us, communities included, we get hit with unanticipated events, be it extra costs for a dam or in Yellowknife, energy costs because of gas in Inuvik, pipeline breaks outside of Norman Wells that shuts off supply, the natural gas issue. We all collectively have to be prepared to do our part.
I am committing here today that we are prepared to do our part. We will work with the community, work through this process so that they are not in this alone. We demonstrated our commitment in Inuvik. We are going to demonstrate our commitment in Norman Wells. We are going to be there as we work through this to get to a logical conclusion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Town of Norman Wells feel very strongly that with the situation that happened in the town, the situation that was occurring that this government wasn’t there for them. They had to dig in their own bank account and take out the money and say, we will pay for the Hercules. We will pay for propane tanks. We will do this. The government did not come up and say, we will help you. To make insults worse, they said no, you are not eligible for extraordinary funding to help offset this here.
It’s a good thing they had strong financial planning that they were able to do this. That’s what they’re asking when they come to this situation, that the Government of the Northwest Territories is there for them when they do their conversion to what energy sources they are going to use. That’s what they want to know. They haven’t yet got it from this government. They committed to help them with energy planning, but they haven’t got to the $64 million question.
Will you be there for us when they want to convert and that tap gets turned off by Imperial Oil? They haven’t had an answer yet from the territorial government, even the federal government.
Mr. Speaker, there are things that have happened in the past that have their own character and complexity and annex. The reality is, and I will say it again, the Government of the Northwest Territories is involved and will continue to be involved with the community of Norman Wells in looking at its long-term energy needs as we deal with the direction and indication from Imperial Oil that their access to gas is going to be cut off. That work is already underway.
The good news is, as I have indicated, we have assurances that NTPC will not be impacted in the near term and the work is underway with the community to look at the conversion and a conversion to what. I agree with the Member; it won’t necessarily be one source of energy, but may be multiple sources. As that work proceeds, we will be involved in that work and we will be there when we look at the final option to see what financial role we should be playing along with the community to resolve that issue. Thank you.
