Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue for me, especially in my riding is that the biggest challenge we face as government is probably dealing with global warming, dealing with the problems we are seeing with permafrost. I noticed that you still have the Woodpile Remediation Program. I think, if anything, it is going
to be there for a long time. We are starting to see more shifting of the ground because of the global warming effects, shoreline erosion, lack of resources by way of granular resources. I think also we have to adapt to the different changes by way of climate, especially in the higher Arctic. What happens in the southern part of the Territories may not always be what meets our challenges in the North, but I think the North probably has…We are going to see a bigger challenge by way of structural failures by way of shifting ground because of the permafrost.
I think, also, we have to look at the way that we construct buildings and the different types of engineering designs that we have to go forward with is that things are going to change and we have to change with that. I think, also, that we have to be able to adapt to those changes by way of government design and, more importantly, the type of infrastructure that we build in part of the Northwest Territories.
The other issue that I think is important is dealing with the area of capacity in a lot of our northern communities. A lot of times Public Works is the only department that we depend on to deal with a lot of our infrastructure in the North, the schools, the health centres, dealing with those other things. But I think also we have to expand the capacity in those areas where it is hard to get the trades people that are going to be needed for maintenance and supply either working with the hamlets, working with the different municipalities, dealing with the Department of Transportation and try to find ways to identify that capacity but, more importantly, working together to basically fill in those voids where we know that there are challenges, especially dealing with trades people and dealing with people that have the skill set of what we are looking for. I think it is important that we expand that program so that we are able to identify those people, but also know that the Public Works used to do a lot more by way of maintenance and support for departments. I think that we are starting to realize that we have to find a system that will meet with those territorial challenges. I think we are seeing that even not only from the construction community but also dealing with identifying the people within different industries.
Again, I think it is important that we do find a way to deal with the high price of energy. I know that, through the resupply of fuel over the top, we had $2 million worth of savings but if you look at the price of fuel when we purchased it to where it is today, I think that somehow you are going to have to find a way that we can offset those costs by whatever supply that we get in the summer while the price is still low, that we are able to top up a lot of these fuel tanks we have in our communities and also for the Power Corporation and whatnot so we can bring
down the cost of power generation and also with the cost of heating bills to ensure you might have brought it down by 16 cents, but a lot of these communities are still paying $1.50 a litre for diesel fuel. That is still pretty high. I know private individuals in my communities are delivering fuel for $1.20 a litre in Fort McPherson and Aklavik privately. I think we do have to work around that.
I know the other area you talked about expanding is in regards to the wood pellet heat system. I know it probably works great in the southern part of the Territory, but I think you are going to have a lot of logistical challenges in the North by way of storage, transportation and also ensuring that you do have the product on hand and be able to get access to it. The only means is to either haul it in over the winter road or bring it in by barge shipments in the summer months. I think we have to look at other alternatives. I know there is potential for wood boilers in communities, large wood boilers that basically use cord wood versus wood pellets. I think we have a lot of areas that basically because of the forest fires that we had over the years, there’s probably a lot of wood product out there that we can use. It is just a matter of how you develop that product. I know for a fact Old Crow in the Yukon, basically their school is heated by way of big wood boiler systems where basically they pay people to cut the wood and haul the wood to the community and keep the boilers going 24/7. I think it should generate some employment in communities, but also it uses a local fuel source versus bringing in diesel fuel. Again, at some point, there has to be a breakeven point in regards to the cost of wood pellets versus the cost of fuel versus ensuring that through supply and demand the price of wood pellets doesn’t start skyrocketing. Because as soon as you start looking at one producer and he knows that he has the market share of the business, he will find ways to increase his profit margins. I think that is something that we have to look at as a corporation.
The other issue that I don’t really want to get too carried away with is the projects in Inuvik in regard to the school and the office buildings. In regards to those projects, I know there have been efforts made to formulate partnerships and working together. There are different proposals that were put out over the last number of years in which there was a proposal to lease/purchase by way of proposal that we received that, again, because of taxation implications, that proposal wasn’t looked at. Again, a lot of that work was already done. A lot of the design work was done. A lot of the legwork was done in regards to the office design and also for an office complex in Inuvik. Again, I think it is something that we should maybe use. Also that the mediation of the different sites around there, I think that again that project has been going on.
Just for the record, maybe I can ask information in regards to this school in Inuvik. I mean the new school, the work that is being done in regards to site development. My understanding is that was part and parcel of the negotiating contract in regards to Dowland doing the work which included the landscaping work and the school as part of one contract that wasn’t two separate contracts. Again, if you could answer that question later.
Again, I think that we do have to work together in the different regions regardless of the amount of capital infrastructure but, more importantly, finding ways that we can accommodate other small business people to work within these large projects so they can also benefit from any major capital investment by way of government. Just in Inuvik alone, I believe there is over $140 million worth of capital being expended from the school to the office building and other work that is going on in Inuvik. There is potential of another water treatment plant of $12 million. Again, we do have to work in conjunction with that.
In regards to Inuvik, I know there was a problem with the hospital when they built it. There was a pressure ridge under the school by way of permafrost which was pushing up. I know there were a lot of expenditures paid to try to deal with that problem. I just would like to know if that has been solved. Are those costs associated with the deficit at the hospital running because of the infrastructure problem dealing with the permafrost issue with the hospital in Inuvik? Those are some of my questions. If the Minister can answer a couple of those, I would be happy.