Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The question may be a little hypothetical, but I will allow the Minister to respond if he chooses. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is working towards establishing more and more overland routes, you would call them, or in fact working towards our Highways Strategy, establishing all-weather roads into communities, that we can justify constructing these routes into these communities.

However, as the Member is well aware, the department has to work with Indian Affairs on this because it is Indian Affairs that is responsible for the construction of new roads over and above the existing road systems we have, and that includes the winter roads. We are working with Indian Affairs as to how we can get sufficient funding towards constructing new roads into communities that are not on the present highway systems.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The road that we made reference to into Colville Lake is a winter road and it is only seasonal. The department did put in the road this year and we will be putting it in on an annual basis from here on. It will become part of our winter road system. We already have winter roads into Wekweti and Gameti, subject to ice of course.

It is a little bit of a different nature that we would be talking to Indian Affairs about an all-weather road into the North Slave versus what is happening into Colville Lake. Colville Lake is not an all-weather road and, at this time, we are not proposing it as an all-weather road. It is just simply a winter road. Indian Affairs has not contributed any funding towards this at this time. It is all between the territorial government and industry. There is no funding from Indian Affairs involved in that particular road.

What I was referring to was we are trying to work with Indian Affairs to identify some process whereby we could fund new roads into these communities that are not on the all-weather road system.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. It really relates to what the department has been saying all along, and that there is more and more pressure on the department to come up with ways to fund roads into those communities that are not presently served by an all-weather road system. There is also obviously more and more pressure placed on the mines to come up with some form of a transportation route in there because, as the Member noted, with global warming and the shortened season for bringing in resupply, the mines are getting pressured more and more to have some other form or route into their mines.

We, at this point in time, have not been talking to the mines about any all-weather road system because basically the road that they maintain into the mine sites is all paid for by the mines themselves. We have not been talking to them, and they have not approached us, towards talks on an all-weather road system into the Slave Geological Province.

Nevertheless, the department has been working on some plans in the past when we did some surveys in the communities to see what the cost of all-weather roads would be into the North Slave, for instance, and we have those studies on record. With those we are trying encourage Indian Affairs to come forward with some kind of a funding program whereby we could construct all-weather roads into those communities that are not on the system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to Minister Handley and have to do with the GNWT review of electrical generation, transmission and distribution in the NWT, specifically the component that deals with the hydro expansion and potential 200 megawatts in the Taltson system. I wonder if the Minister could inform this House how they tend to proceed in terms of taking that particular recommendation to provide the necessary environmental and economic and regulatory detail, market issues that have all been dealt with and are raised through the public consultation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, let me clarify that the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation and for the energy generation study is Mr. Kakfwi, who is absent for the next few days. I will attempt to generally answer the question.

The report that has been prepared by consultants is out for consultation. We have invited people to submit their advice and comments by the end of February. Following the receipt of any advice and information, we will then, as a Cabinet, review the report and the information that has been received from various sources and determine a plan from that point on. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the leadership role played by the Minister in getting this particular review done and most of the work that has been done to date.

On the issue of the recommendation of looking straight south, as the report lays out, there has been a strong suggestion that it might be worth our while to look at the market of the hydro to the north, to the mines, to tie into the Snare system to create a grid. Could the Minister indicate whether they will in fact be taking a comprehensive look at those kind of broad issues, or are they just going to look at the specific recommendations as they are worded? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, I can give the Member assurance that we will look broadly at all of the advice and recommendations we receive. Certainly we have heard from people that they would want us to consider, for example, the Taltson energy for the North. We would have to look at the economic feasibility of doing that versus going south. As a Cabinet, we would be open to any suggestions or advice. We are not just sticking to the specific recommendations as they are worded. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the report covers other areas that deal with the structure of the Power Corporation and possible regulatory reform and such. Will the Minister as well ensure that they take into account all of the work that has been done in that area, such as the work that has been done by the Public Utilities Board review, so we have as comprehensive a look at that particular component as well? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would have to defer to the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation in terms of how he is going to handle the recommendations and the advice we receive, relative to the Power Corporation itself. Thank you.