Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just first say that I did fail to mention that not only Minister Bob McLeod was in Hay River on the weekend, but, in fact, all of the McLeods were there, including Ms. Lee and Minister Miltenberger. So I do thank them for their trip down there.
I’d like to address my questions today, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources and a Minister who sits on the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. I’m getting my initiatives mixed up here.
Mr. Speaker, we have, as a government, been trying to convert government buildings, where possible, from burning fuel heating oil to having pellet boilers to heat them. This has required a considerable amount of investment, but it is something that is visionary in terms of looking forward in trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions here in the North and contributing and doing our part to protect the environment. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if having a pellet mill in the Northwest Territories is part of a strategy on the part of the government for manufacturing the pellets here in the North. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a two-stage process that we are interested in and investing in. First, of course, is building the market, doing the retrofits, encouraging people to use alternative forms of energy, which is well underway, and through that process build a market so that we can, in fact, sustain our own value-added industry in the Northwest Territories. There are two basic approaches: the one is to have a fixed site where we invest in a fairly large production facility similar to what’s there in High Level, but there’s also significant interest that has been expressed almost everywhere we’ve been in the Boreal forest area for a regional or small community-sized wood pellet plants or woodchip plants. So we’re looking at those two approaches. But the key is we do really want to push for a value-added industry that will allow us to provide our own energy. Thank you.
Where are we at in terms of determining whether or not the inventories for the harvest of product that could be made into pellets is available and sustainable in the Northwest Territories?
We have done some broad inventories. Very specifically, in the South Slave we’ve worked with the mill down there and we’ve brought a consultant in to look at both the market and the inventory that would be available. And that work has been concluded, I believe.
Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could be so kind as to share with us and with the public the summary or a quick conclusion of that process of that study. What would it have determined would be the viability of making pellets in the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, there are two key issues. At present, the market is still in its infancy in terms of what’s needed in terms of supply. Then the other one, especially in the South Slave, given it’s an unsettled claims area, is the issue of access to appropriate amounts of timber that would allow us to, in fact, have an ongoing supply. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of the interim measures agreement and the unsettled claims and access to inventories, what does the government see as their role in persuading or creating agreements with First Nations that would make it financially viable for them and for the users of this product that could be developed here in the Northwest Territories? What does he see is the government’s role in that process?
We see this is a significant economic opportunity in the Northwest Territories. We’re spending millions of dollars building the market with our own buildings and facilities, as well as encouraging private individuals to convert. We support the whole issue of partnerships with the private sector and aboriginal governments as a way forward. The other issue, of course, is the size of the plant and the current volume that’s necessary or that’s available to justify the expense. Indications are that a plant that size is bigger considerably than we would need in the foreseeable future. But there are opportunities, we believe, with aboriginal governments and businesses to partner up with the private sector to see what may be possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
