Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In today's Minister's statement, the Minister of Infrastructure tried to paint a rather rosy picture of our energy future, and I'm quite at a loss of why we would do this because, Mr. Speaker, I think we need to be honest with the public that our energy future is looking pretty grim. I think the statement should have started with, the first thing, we subsidized our power corp $15 million this year because of a record low water year and an underestimation of the cost of diesel in current rates. Mr. Speaker, those problems are not going anywhere. The reality is is that our rates are going up, and people in the North will continue to pay the highest rates of power in Canada. None of the projects that the Minister listed today are going to fix that, and I think that needs to be the starting point in this conversation.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we have a problem building projects on budget and on time. The Minister celebrated the Inuvik Wind Project, a project that came in at almost double what we initially expected. Mr. Speaker, that was a 3.5 megawatt project for $70 million. People down south are building wind projects at $2 million a megawatt. We're ten times what we're building in the south. This shouldn't be celebrated. This was one of the most, if not the most, expensive wind project ever, Mr. Speaker. And I get it is expensive in the North, and I get it's hard to build. But with that project doubling in cost, the business case is very questionable whether it's saving those 3 million litres of diesel a year on a 20year project, that's the estimated life span of a wind turbine, will actually pay itself off.
Mr. Speaker, we need to level with people that perhaps a lot of the renewables we want to build just aren't there in the cost for the North yet.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister spoke about the Whati Transmission Line, a line that was supposed to be starting building in 2021, now estimated to be completion in 2028. We still don't have a cost for that project. We don't even have a route for that project.
The Minister spoke of the Fort Providence Transmission Line, supposed to be completed in fall 2023, pushed back to 2027. It is clear that it is well over budget, and the $60 million the feds initially gave us for that Fort Providence transmission line isn't going to cut it. We have not been provided with an updated figure.
The Minister spoke about the Taltson Hydro Project, a project the Minister refuses to tell us how much it's going to cost. We have a 2014 cost estimate that includes the transmission line going to the diamond mines, something the Minister has said we are no longer doing. Mr. Speaker, the Minister refuses to tell us what the cost of power will be sold out of Taltson and who's going to buy it mostly importantly, Mr. Speaker. We need mines to buy it.
Mr. Speaker, there is a complete lack of transparency from the department and the power corporation about what's going on with our energy future. I'll have questions for the Minister.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
