Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know in this House that the current makeup of NTPC's board of directors consists solely of deputy ministers from our government, and it has remained that way for seven years.
Does the Minister have any timeline for when a new group of board of directors will be appointed at NTPC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Sounds like a theme day here. Minister responsible for NTPC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm starting to yes, there's definitely a theme happening here, right? Anyways, I want to so the Northwest Territories Power Corporation governance review, it continues, Mr. Speaker. Recommendations from that review will inform some of the decisions and on the next steps in this regard. So we expect this work to be completed within the life of this Assembly. So I think that's very good news, Mr. Speaker. The Member had talked about this being a seven year process. And, you know, we are getting to this. So I'd like to, you know, reassure that we are working on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I know this current NTPC Minister was not the Minister when the decision was made to appoint deputy ministers to the board of directors; however, can the Minister tell us if Cabinet or NTPC has anticipated that it would be seven years and counting for the NTPC board of directors to be solely deputy ministers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can only speak to what has been done since I became the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. And I want the Members to know that I support the undertaking of this governance review which will be able to determine the decision in this matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it was stated in 2016, by the NTPC Minister of the day, that appointing deputy ministers to the board of directors was a cost saving measure that would save $1 million per year.
Can the Minister confirm if that turned out to be true and provide some dollar figures for how much money this decision has saved NTPC over the last seven years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation did benefit from some of the cost reduction in things like public relations, donations, public association dues, professional development, retainers, utility advisors, consultant contractors I can just go on. Especially in our board chair. So in the period of 2014 to 2022, the savings range from approximately $415,000 to about half a million dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide the House with an update on the status of the Taltson Hydro Expansion and if she expects more funding confirmed in this year's federal budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Good progress continues to advance the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project with our Indigenous partners, Mr. Speaker. That's very important key to this project going forward. So we have now focused on two routes. So one is right across the lake here and the other one is right around the western side of the lake, and we hope to have a preferred route this year. We are working to collect Indigenous knowledge, environmental engineering information to be able to support the future regulatory applications. As well, Mr. Speaker, we continue to work towards a final business case for this project.
Taltson has been a key federal item that is related to Budget 2023, and we have had strong signals from federal ministers that they are supportive of this project. Mr. Speaker, you know, when we were down in Ottawa as Cabinet and attending FPTs, we continue to hear a theme from the federal government that, you know, we need to reduce GHGs and work together. But we don't want to get we'll not get confirmation of what's in the federal budget before it's announced other than to say that, you know, we've been working together and pushing it as our agenda. It is a mandate of this Assembly so that is something that is a priority for us in this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
