Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Didn’t really hear a question but I’ll go to the Minister for a response. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The intention is to, of course, offer people a choice. We don’t want to demonize one product over another or make one product look lesser than the other. I recognize what the Member is saying. I have been burning wood for my whole adult life as well, just regular wood. But the pellets are a product that are in wide use and some people find it convenient for the reason the Member

indicated, but we will have programs to allow people to do both. Thank you.

Just one more thing. I just wondered if the Minister and the department are aware that you can actually buy a very long-burning log now that is made out of the same material that pellets are made out of. They are extremely heavy. They are about the size of a piece of wood, but they’re not like little pieces. They are logs that burn for hours and hours, but they’re made out of the very same material. Is the Minister familiar with that? Thank you.

I’ve seen logs like those in stores. They’re each individually wrapped. You put them in and they burn for a long time, if that is what the Member is talking about. I just use jack pine, so I don’t know.

No, I’ll get some of these new kind for the Minister. They are not those fire log things that you buy in the stores or the box of six. These are, like, heavy duty. They burn for hours and hours. They are a compressed wood product. They look the same colour as pellets and it’s something new out. They are giving them out to people in Hay River to try in their wood burning stove. So, okay, I’ll bring you one too. Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. No question, but next on my list is Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just have one question and I guess it’s a new type of energy that I am not aware of, but I wondered if the Minister could explain what wild energy is, please.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister Miltenberger.

It’s called a typo that never got caught.

---Laughter

Just in case anybody is listening at this time of night, what is it supposed to be, Mr. Miltenberger…I mean, Mr. Chair.

You would replace the “l” with an “n.”

Wind. Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list is Mr. Bisaro. I mean Mr. Bromley.

---Laughter

My first question for the chair…Was that a typo, Mr. Chair?

---Laughter

No, actually, I did just have the very same question as Ms. Bisaro and I wanted to add it to my list of renewable energies, so it’s there. I thought maybe I would use this time to ask Mrs. Groenewegen for a log too. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. It’s wind, wind. I think Mrs. Groenewegen heard you, so no question. I will go to next on my list which is Mr. Krutko.

With regard to the Arctic Energy Alliance, we don’t see much of them up in my region. I know they are based out of Yellowknife, but I notice there’s a major increase in regards to funds that are going to that organization. I would like to know what are they going to do for an extra $500,000. Now it’s $1.6 million. You might as well set up a separate department for this NGO that’s in Yellowknife. What are they going to do to provide services to the northern communities in the Northwest Territories? Right now, whenever they come to our communities, they want to charge you $100. That’s why no one seems to be too fond of this organization.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Arctic Energy Alliance, there is money in the budget for three positions. We want to put one up in Inuvik; we want to put one in Norman Wells and we want to put one in the Deh Cho, probably in Fort Simpson. I think they are called Pathfinders. We also have $550,000 to allow us to do more with energy efficiencies for individuals in houses. We want to look at an energy guide for houses. So we have that money slated to increase the service outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.

A lot of people in our communities who are income support clients who maintain their own home, a lot of them, $100 for them...Is there any possible way that you can allow these guys to provide a service to low income people in our communities without having to charge them that fee?

We’ll look at how we structure this to ensure that low income people aren’t disadvantaged from being able to access the service. Thank you.

Will there be a regional office in Inuvik? What type of system will they have? Right now it seems like they pop into a community, they show up and then they try to find their clients. If anything, before you go into a community you should at least have a client list of who you are

going to see, because it is pretty expensive to fly in and out of these communities. What I’ve seen from the people that I have been in contact with, these people going into our communities are only talking to one or two people. It’s quite a cost to get people in and out of those communities. What are we doing to promote the program, but make it more accessible to communities so people know that this investment they are going to make is a good investment and at the end of the day, and that there are really going to be programs and services to help them out?

The intent is to establish some positions outside of Yellowknife where they will be on a permanent basis, so they can set themselves up to develop better knowledge of the region where they aren’t going to be in and out from Yellowknife. We are adding money under a whole number of areas in terms of energy efficiencies, energy conservation programs and those type of areas to give people greater access as well as the benefit of the support, education, information and advice from these folks we are going to put out into the communities.

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Nobody else on my list. We are on page 13…Sorry, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister give me a breakdown of what that $1.610 million is for and how that is going to be expended?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister Miltenberger.