Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Funds currently flowed to community governments on the New Deal have no conditions to ensure new buildings meet the necessary energy efficiency standards that we have in the NWT for the GNWT.

Communities are expected to complete community energy plans, but without a stipulation for meeting those requirements and frequently resulting in substandard energy efficiency building practices.

My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I understand we currently recommend that communities adopt our standards, but we don’t require it. Given that we do transfer under the New Deal considerable dollars, and appropriately so, for infrastructure to community governments, can we at least in the short term, until that is actually fixed, require that buildings developed by them meet GNWT energy standards?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right. But as we work with the communities, they’re working on their energy plans right now. I think the communities are starting to recognize the fact that if they build buildings according to code, and the buildings that are going up now are not substandard buildings, I think a lot of them are meeting code and they’re being built a lot better than they were in the past. I think communities, once they recognize the amount of money that they could save by improving on their infrastructure, I think that’s a step that they’ll take in that direction on their own. We see it happening with some of the designs that are already coming forward.

I wish I could come to the same conclusions or have the same observations as the Minister, but I tend to see substandard buildings in communities. I know some of the youth centres that have been built that I have seen don’t have porches on them, the doors are open, and you can see daylight under the doors and so on. These are clearly not EGH or 25 percent better than the model National Energy Building Codes. That is why I’m looking to help the communities realize and enjoy the savings that we are in the larger communities and that this government is realizing. By simply putting in that stipulation, it’s not that our contractors can’t make these standards. They’re doing it for us, they’re doing it for the larger communities, and it’s the same outfits that are doing the construction in communities.

Can we actually commit to getting a requirement to meet those standards in there so that communities can enjoy the same benefits that we enjoy ourselves?

First of all, the building of youth centres usually falls within the community and they make those decisions on their own. We’ve devolved a lot of the responsibility for the capital plans to the communities. We can assist the communities, we can make recommendations to the communities, but we’ve given them the

responsibility so we’re not always telling them what to do. We can work with them. We can point out the advantages of designing their buildings and building them energy efficiently.

I had the opportunity just recently to attend the opening of one of the buildings built under this out in Dettah and they’ve taken some steps on their own to ensure that they have some energy efficient building practices in there. They did a fine job with that. I think the communities are going to start realizing that. I do believe, and still believe, that all the buildings that are built in the communities are built according to code.

Again, I’m sure they’re built to a code, the problem is which code they’re built to. That’s the topic under discussion here. I’m the first to say we want the responsibilities to be taken up by the communities, and they are taking them up and so on, but here we have firm evidence of what the savings can be and we are not requiring communities to meet those standards, based on experience, and enjoy those benefits that we are allowing ourselves to enjoy without insisting that communities have that same opportunity. I hope the Minister will rethink that.

On the longer-term sense I’m wondering if the Minister would consider, perhaps with other departments if relevant, developing and adopting NWT building standards for all buildings in the Northwest Territories.

I agree with the Member that it is good advice for us to continue to try to work with the communities and encourage them to build their buildings with energy efficiency in mind. I have a lot of confidence in our communities’ abilities to manage their own projects. I think we’ve seen in a few cases where they’ve recognized that there are savings in building energy efficient buildings and they’re starting to move towards those lines. We’ve seen a few examples. I will take the Member’s advice and this is something that we can continue to work with the communities quite diligently in making sure that all buildings are built with energy efficiency and the highest standard in mind.

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

I’ll just ask that last question, I appreciate those comments from the Minister, I’ll just ask the question: Will the Minister commit to developing and adopting, helping this government adopt building standards that are made-in-the-North building standards and applicable throughout the NWT?

We’ll continue to work with our partners and the NWTAC and LGANT and coming up with a plan to move forward with this. As far as having our own set of standards in the

Northwest Territories, we are seeing a lot of examples now of buildings being built to EnerGuide 80 and higher. I think we’re going to continue to move along those lines. I’ll say again, the communities are recognizing the fact that there is a significant amount of money to be saved and I think they’re taking steps to improve the quality of the construction of their buildings.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier. I get back to my Member’s statement from earlier today. I believe we can’t underestimate the importance of a strong presence in Ottawa. I know the government, I gave them credit, I think we’ve gotten a fair bit of money from Ottawa, but I think the time is of the essence and I think we need to get more money from Ottawa. We have many demands, especially on our transportation infrastructure. We have to get more money in here. I’d like to ask the Premier what the game plan is going forward to try to get more money from the federal government.

I know in June I stood up in this House and I cited a project in the Yukon where the Yukon government received $71 million for a hydro expansion in Carmacks. It’s things like that: substantial investment from the federal government. Where is it at on this government’s radar and how are we going to achieve more?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the life of our Assembly we have engaged with Ottawa on quite a number of fronts and brought our message in to them and opened doors that were available to us. In fact, we recently just put in -- speaking of the Yukon example -- our request for funds that are available through the federal government for our Taltson Hydro Expansion Project. That was a $100 million request that went through the Green Energy Fund, I believe it’s called, and another avenue for the remainder.

What we’ve started doing is engaging through our lead Minister on infrastructure. That’s why we’ve got a good share of the stimulus funding that’s available, and we see as a result of that our large capital program. In fact, over three years in the life of this government, including the budget that will be coming forward on the capital, we’ll be in the neighbourhood of well over $700 million, close to $800 million in infrastructure investment in the Northwest Territories. So we have been seeing results as a result of our work.

Our focus needs to be on fundamental or some key project areas and large scale. That is why when I’ve sent the message to the Prime Minister and to other Ministers it revolves around the Mackenzie Gas Project, Mackenzie Valley Highway and the hydro potential. There are three areas. At some point we need to, if the money were to become available for one and we had to choose, then we’ll have to sit down with Members of the North to say what area. But we know, for example, there’s a lot of work that’s happening with the Mackenzie Gas Project and we’re hoping to see those results bear fruit in the very near future. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to start by thanking the Premier for his response. However, when he talked about the lead Minister for infrastructure, I’d like to ask the Premier how are we currently coordinated in our efforts in Ottawa? Like, who’s actually coordinating the government’s efforts in dealing with the federal government? Is it the Premier? Is it the lead Minister for infrastructure? Is each Minister left to their own devices when dealing with Ottawa? Where does the buck stop when it comes to dealing with Ottawa, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the process we use flows through the Department of the Executive as we establish through these Strategic Initiatives committees. For example, when we come through with requests from departments to advance -- whether it’s Transportation, whether it is Health and Social Services, Education, Culture and Employment -- a number of these initiatives, we funnel them through the appropriate initiative committee. Those Ministers would sit down and we would coordinate with the Executive and see what areas we need to engage in, in Ottawa. So it’s coordinated through the Department of the Executive. We do that work. Once we highlight what office it flows through and we put our specific Minister who’s the lead of that section, and I use the infrastructure as an example, our infrastructure Minister, once we have those established as to where they would go, the projects that are on our list, that work is done, and done through the Executive working with all appropriate Ministers. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that’s a good answer from the Premier. One of the concerns that I hear from the federal government is the mixed messages coming from the Government of the Northwest Territories when it comes to the federal government in dealing with the federal government. One of the things I’d like to ask the Premier today is whether or not the government has given any consideration to naming a Minister who’s responsible for federal engagement, and everything runs through that Minister and that’s where you know that the federal engagement is going to be handled by that one Minister. I think that’s

something maybe the government should give some consideration to. I’m wondering if the Premier has given that some consideration. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that, in fact, falls in under one Minister now and that would be myself, as the Premier of the Northwest Territories, engaging the appropriate departments. Once we establish those trunk lines -- I guess is a way of putting it -- to appropriate Ministers, we’d hand off or establish a framework. But the overall coordination comes through the Premier’s office and works with the appropriate Ministers and flows in that fashion. So there’s much we need to do, and continue to do, to establish things. For example, my discussions with the Prime Minister on the Mackenzie Valley Highway, to establish that and open the doors, then to go to the appropriate Ministers. That is one of the reasons why I’ve hung onto the Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations portfolio as well, because that keeps us in the connection with all the work that’s happening with all the other Ministers and their departments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I thank the Premier for that. If I was going to ask, and I will ask the Premier today if the government could produce a current comprehensive list of asks of the federal government and whether or not the government could provide that to Regular Members. I’d like to see that list. Thank you.

I’m sure we can pull that together for the Members. One of the first things that comes forward is some of the big work that’s happening, and that’s the stimulus package that’s our capital program. That comes forward through example, and we’d be dealing with it during this sitting, is a lot of that work is entailed and incorporated into our budget process here. For the other work that we go above and beyond that for some of the bigger picture -- the hydro pieces, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, some of our initial work and ongoing work around the Mackenzie Gas Project -- I’d be glad to pull that information together and provide that to Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.