When we talk about the Taltson expansion, when we talk about generating energy, quite often we’re doing it in the context of industry. I’d like to know where the service of affordable, sustainable energy supplies to communities comes in terms of the priorities of NTPC.

The Power Corporation will not turn off the power to any of the communities in the Northwest Territories. It is an essential service. We take it very seriously. I will speak to the chairman in terms of that letter that Mrs. Groenewegen has made reference to in the House.

When you look at the initiatives underway, for example, in our neighbouring jurisdiction of Alberta, they are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in alternative energy sources, such as gasification of forest products, biomass. You can go on the Web site and find all kinds of them. I feel like here we’re just trying to figure out where to buy fuel cheaper. So we need to get more progressive.

What kind of dialogue takes place between NTPC, as a major supplier in the North, and other jurisdictions? We want to be on the cutting edge of this. We don’t want to be in the Dark Ages here.

The Power Corporation is pursuing aggressive initiatives with the Minister’s Energy Coordinating Committee and working very closely with the department in terms of our fuel systems delivery, such as the Over-the-Top route. We are looking at various initiatives in terms of seeing where we can reduce power and the costs of doing business. We are operating under the Public Utilities Board path in terms of our efficiency, and they are keeping a close eye on our operation. We are pursuing very vigorously, through the

Minister’s Energy Coordinating Committee, all the initiatives that the Member has talked about. We’ve certainly had the chance to engage with the committee in terms of the initiatives and certainly look forward to seeing some of those initiatives come to reality within the life of this government.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. Final

supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker.

I hope this is not too little, too late. Crude oil is at $128 a barrel right now. This is bringing to mind the emperor that was fiddling while Rome was burning. We have got a huge problem on our doorstep right now in relation to the cost of energy and home heating fuel, and particularly because we are talking about power, I’ll stick to energy. We have got a very pressing, huge problem here. This is the beginning of summer, but winter will be coming, and we are in a crisis here. We need not a whole lot of study; we need some action.

I didn’t hear an oral question there, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The area of devolution,

resource revenue sharing

is

something I have had an opportunity to discuss with the Prime Minister as well as our northern regional aboriginal leaders and at the recent Western Premiers’ Conference, where we sat down and had a chance to share some of our issues. I have indeed had a chance to speak with the Prime Minister. The federal government is interested in moving forward with this file. I also shared at that point that we wanted to ensure what we got in the North was acceptable to Northerners and that it actually benefited us, not kept us in the same track we’re on right now.

I’d like to ask the Premier — and I thank him for that — if we have people on staff today that are actively working on this file as we speak now. I’d like to ask the Premier that.

We do have some staff working, whether it’s in the Department of Finance or Executive, with the appropriate parties. For example, at the last regional leaders’ meeting I discussed with them coming together on a number of initiatives that we could jointly move forward on. Within the Executive we’ve been in contact with the regional leadership to come up with a joint process. We have some staff who have been in discussion with federal Finance, for example, to see if there’s any movement from what they’ve put forward in their position. We have to get ready for our next round of regional aboriginal leadership meetings and have further discussion about the next steps we would be willing to take.

Part of the problem we’ve had the last few years is the lack of will by the aboriginal governments around the Northwest Territories to get on the same page and go forward with a unified voice — it almost sounds like I’m starting to write a song here. I’d like to ask the Premier if they need buy-in from all the aboriginal governments across the Northwest Territories to try and pursue the devolution talks with Ottawa.

At one point in the history of the Government of the Northwest Territories, when the talk of devolution and resource revenue sharing came up, the federal government’s position was unanimity across the North. We’ve been in these discussions for well over 20 years now. There have been past governments who’ve put their case forward to the federal government to say, “Could we at least look at a significant majority and not unanimity?” That position has been agreed to.

The past government had a number of the organizations sign a joint letter with the GNWT and forwarded that to the federal government. We haven’t had an official response from them. The start of this government has been to begin again sitting down with regional leadership, trying to come up with a common position. We know that some regional leadership was concerned about moving ahead, but this budget is an example. If we don’t move ahead, we’re facing more of these areas of not moving forward when we know there’s a revenue stream going to Ottawa. The fact is that we don’t need everyone on side. Our preference would be to get as many groups as possible in agreement to move forward.

Final supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a concern of mine, and I think it’s something that the 16th Assembly and the Premier need to address.

The more time we take, the more revenue that is leaving the Northwest Territories, until it comes to a point where we’re all dried out, and they’ll say, “Okay, here’s your devolution and resource revenue sharing,” and try to figure out what’s zero per cent of zero.

I’d like to ask the Premier — he spoke to different groups talking to each other: how far apart are we between our government and Ottawa? Do we have a framework agreement in place? How far apart are we?

There are a number of different factors included. If it’s purely around the devolution piece — and that is the authority moving to the North and the aid-base transfer, as we call it — there is some difference. On where to do the job right and transfer it over, we need more than what’s being identified. There are some other incremental costs that we’ve discussed with the federal government.

The other side of the equation is the resource revenue sharing piece. That is one where we’ve had some discussions with the federal government. They’ve written to us, talking about the 50 per cent in and out, as they treat all other jurisdictions, but there’s been an additional cap put in place for us. At that point, we have a difference of opinion on how we need to proceed forward. We’re working again with regional leadership to try to come up with something that we can jointly move forward on.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. My

questions are for the Minister of Justice. It gets back to the delivery of programming at North Slave Correctional Centre. I wanted to raise this issue again. I think it’s something that has the potential to impact every Member in this House and every community that we represent. I get an uneasy feeling that the Minister isn’t getting the straight goods from the department, and I’ve been down this road before with a former Minister of Justice who didn’t get the straight goods from the department, and it’s the same department. I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice if he is aware that the case managers or the program delivery officers have already been reassigned into case management positions.

The honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr.

Speaker.

Those two positions were vacant positions. The two individuals who are potentially impacted are in the

process of filling those positions, if they want to continue in that position. So it is in the process. The way it stands right now, with their experience and qualifications, they should be able to fill those two positions.

It sounds to me like the department has already reassigned the program delivery officers into other roles at North Slave Correctional Centre. That is fairly optimistic of the Department of Justice, to be doing this.

Again, you look at the budget, budget-wide, and there are instances like this where the Department of Justice has gone out and reassigned two program delivery officers, and the department’s budget has not passed the scrutiny of Regular Members. In this case, I believe that puts communities at risk, because we’re going to be sending inmates back to the communities where they came from without the rehabilitation that they need when they’re incarcerated.

I’d like to ask the Minister: when can he put on the table the credentials of those people who are going to be delivering programs at North Slave Correctional Centre?

Mr. Speaker, there is no risk with the changes. We are dealing with the same individuals who have delivered those particular programs over a number of years.

Those particular two individuals that we’ve highlighted, the two positions will be filled by those individuals. It’s highly likely that they will continue that service, and they will continue that service at the corrections centre. So for the Member to say, “The program, they’re discontinuing it….” Just for the record, there are no changes in the program. We will continue to deliver that program. It’s not just dealing with those two individuals that deliver the program. There’s a delivery officer, as well, and a psychologist who will certainly deliver on an ongoing basis. Mahsi.

If you have already, Mr. Minister, reassigned the two program delivery officers into other roles, they have other duties. I don’t know, or I’m not aware of, in a case manager’s position, a job description where it says they have program-delivery function.

So again I want to ask the Minister: how can he assure this House and the public in the Northwest Territories that the programming being delivered at North Slave Correctional Centre is going to be timely, coordinated and professional in manner?