Thanks for those comments and the clarification. I’m wondering, given that we know our greenhouse gas emissions are soaring and we know the price of fuel is down temporarily but will likely be soaring, will these dollars have conditions on them that require that they actually need to go through renewable and alternative energy developments; sort of, permanent solutions as opposed to a band-aid. All of these commercial ventures, I suspect, are quite capable of installing renewable energy systems that will help reduce their costs with some help from this government. Thank you.

There are some short-term issues, mid-term and, of course, longer-term. The short-term issue is to try to get some assistance that’s going to bring down the cost of commercial power in the small communities that we hope will translate into direct cost savings in stores, affect the cost of the food basket, for example, including milk. The longer-term, mid-term, we are working...The $60 million that’s in the budget, with the exception of the nine for the subsidy program, are geared to replacing fossil fuels, to work with communities to come up with the technology and the planning to be able to allow us, as a government, to unfold across the North the replacement of all the diesel-generated electrical installations we have, be they biomass, mini-hydro, wind or geothermal. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

I’ll take that as a no. I really think these dollars should have conditions on them that require renewable and alternative energy development. That type of energy is quite compatible with individual systems and would be perfect for this sort of situation. I stated in my statement that I applaud the energy initiatives and I’m expecting those to go forward. Would this Minister commit to ensuring that this power subsidy, this additional $3 million on the existing $10 million-plus, be dedicated to the production of renewable energy for our commercial customers out there? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member shouldn’t take that previous answer as a no. In fact, we have indicated that we have to work on the detail and the application of this power subsidy. The Energy Coordinating Committee will be having that as one of their tasks as we move forward with the budget. There will be an opportunity to work with Members to look at how to best apply that particular program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation a question with regard to their strategy for community consultation. I’d like to know, will the Power Corporation be heading it up or is it the GNWT that would be leading the discussions during their community consultations? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.

Mr. Speaker, if I can get more clarity as to what the community consultation is on. Is it the energy paper that we put out through the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee on rates, regulation and supply or is it the Power Corporation review itself? If I could get some clarity on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is much said about doing the electricity rates review by our government and I was just wondering if the Power Corporation was heading that up or our GNWT and how extensive will it be. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll redirect that to the Minister lead of the Ministerial Energy

Coordinating Committee, the Honourable Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. McLeod.

We were planning to advise standing committees, if we haven’t already, about the consultation process. We will have a team of experienced people who will be going to the communities and we will also go to those communities where we’re invited. We expect that process to take a period of time; hopefully, with the report this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Residents of Nahendeh are really, really interested in speaking to this committee. I’d like to know who will be doing the work. Will the Ministers travel? Is it deputy minister level, senior staff? Who will be doing the consultations in our communities? Thank you.

We will have three people with significant experience. One is a former chair of the Saskatchewan Public Utilities Board or equivalent. We have a former deputy minister of the government and a former director of the Government of the Northwest Territories. They will be assisted by the staff of the Department of ITI. Also, there will be Power Corporation staff who we expect will be participating in the hearings. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Our communities are eagerly anticipating the discussion to have that review and how extensive it will be. For the record, I’d just like to say that our smallest communities must be part of the representatives of the discussions and I’d certainly like to invite the Minister to Nahendeh. As well, often these committees...They forget to advise the MLAs that they’re coming to their riding and their communities. I’d just like to ask the Minister to ensure that we’re certainly part of the loop and to advise if and when they’re coming. Thank you.

We will be scheduling hearings in some of the major centres and we will also be responding to those communities that invite us to their settlements for hearings. We will definitely make sure that all MLAs are apprised well in advance, because we would welcome their participation as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the lead Minister on Refocusing Government Strategic Initiatives Committee. Getting back to my statement from earlier, it just seems to me that the Government of the Northwest Territories doesn’t seem to understand what engaging the public in a meaningful, consultative fashion means. If it wasn’t bad enough that we didn’t learn anything off of the supplementary health benefits and the proposed changes there, we’re doing almost the exact same thing with board reform.

The government has offered no compelling indication of what the problems are. It seems to me, and it seems to the public, that the government is just going ahead with this simply for the sake of doing it. I’m concerned that the Ministers of Health, Education, Culture and Employment and Housing are not willing to stand up to this initiative and the damage that it is causing and will cause into the future. I’d like to ask the Minister how were the three departments involved in the latest round or campaign that he refers to as consultation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Michael Miltenberger.

The Refocusing Committee, of which the Member sits on, includes the Ministers of Housing and Education, who have been sitting at the table, as well as Health. We looked at the work that’s been done, the information that’s been pulled together, the plan to gather more information, the move to go to the communities as well as consult with senior staff. They have been at the table throughout.

The other piece I’d like to point out, of course, is that we are seven weeks away from April. We are working to bring the rest of the information to the table. It’s a milestone date, as I’ve said repeatedly. We will bring all that information collectively between Cabinet and Regular Members. We’ll look at next steps. Are there adjustments required? If so, what? Are there changes required? If so, what? The Member has indicated that his colleagues are interested in board reform, but the question will be to determine, I suppose, on that date what that will possibly look like.

I’d like to thank the Minister for reminding me that I do sit on that Refocusing Committee and my recommendation to the Minister in the committee was not to take this outside of the building unless they had done the research, analysis, and collected the data that was necessary to answer the questions.

I’d like to ask the Minister how it is possible to conclude these face-to-face discussions with the boards and report back by April 1st . It seems like an

impossible task, if you ask me.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This process was geared to go to 2010-2011 before we would consider implementation. There has been a lot of work done in-house. There has been work with senior staff going out to meet with the boards. I’ve met with health boards, education boards; I’ve been up to some of the regions. Senior members of staff have been as well meeting with different staff across the region. We’re going to pull all the work together the first milestone date in April and we’re going to look at where we stand, if there’s changes that are required. If not, what do we do in terms of next steps? That’s seven weeks away.