Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This campaign for alternative energy and to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels is a campaign that has a number of fronts, and there are some short-term objectives and there are mid and long-term objectives. We’ve put $60 million into this particular initiative.
The intent of the commercial subsidy is a short-term support to allow us to try to bring down the cost of living in the small communities as we invest the other $57 million, or $51 million, into mini-hydro, extending some transmission lines, biomass, wind, sorting out geothermal in the communities where it’s applicable, recognizing that those take time. But the need to help positively impact the cost of living is now.
Yes, subsidies are not a long-term solution. We recognize that. But it’s an issue, especially if you live outside of Yellowknife where the costs are the highest. We all recognize that that’s an enormous pressure and we’re trying to address a number of issues, short-term, long-term. The long-term goal is to definitely reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, our greenhouse gasses, lower the cost of living, but we also have to be prepared to help today. Thank you.