Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have to highlight this rather scary Power Subsidy Program. The cost of power is a huge concern across the North. All of us that pay bills will have noticed the changes. A large change from $9.9 million to $14.1 million in the Power Subsidy Program, that’s almost a 50 percent leap this year. It includes the $3.2 million for the commercial power subsidy. My concern here is I think this reflects a slavish commitment to a fossil fuel future, if you will, by the Power Corporation, and expense that comes with that, instead of investing in things like small hydro that result in a decreasing power cost and power bills over time.

So, again, I want to ask this Minister if he’s going to ensure that the administration of this commercial power subsidy will in fact be directed to the production of renewable or alternative energy sources that will provide long-term benefits to the commercial entities, rather than simply a deep holdethat we throw the $3.2 million in every year as fossil fuel costs go up and the benefits go down from that budget. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

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.

I appreciate the Minister’s remarks. Of course, if I was to put a woodstove in my building or a pellet boiler, I would have immediately reduced energy bills; immediately. If I was to have solar panels mounted so that I could be heating water with the use of solar, my electricity bills for heating water -- one of the biggest sources of electricity -- or running the freezer would be reduced by 50 percent per year from then on. These pieces of equipment have long lives. We don’t even know how long solar panels, photovoltaic cells last because they last so long. So again I would ask the Minister, will he look for ways, other than just throwing money into a big, deep, dark hole, that bring long-term benefits to our commercial entities out there? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, the Member and I both want to get to the same point in this whole exercise. I would point out that we have many programs, as well, that currently exist to assist both private individuals and businesses with conversion to the new technologies: biomass, wood pellet, whatever it may be. But there are also significant and expensive costs, in stores for example, to run freezers and coolers which cost a lot. So we’re trying to meet multiple needs here. I appreciate the Member’s concern. We do have that opportunity for those businesses and residents that will give you incentives, will give up to I think it’s $15,000 or so for bigger units. At the same time, we have to recognize that we’ve budgeted money for the short term to try to bring down some of the other operating costs that can’t be offset right away in terms of running the freezers and coolers and those type of things, especially in stores where the price of food in small communities is such a big issue. Thank you.

I think we, indeed, are on the same track. But again the opportunities are huge out there. Every community has a grocery outlet of some kind or another and they all have large freezers and walk-in freezers and places where they store dairy and so on that’s accessible to the customers. There are systems now that use outside air, which we know in the North is often cold and obvious efficiencies to be gained with some direction to the dollars. So I’ll just leave it there as a further comment on the opportunities that are there, and also to say we cannot do business as usual

any longer. As much as it’s tiring to keep talking about climate change and so on, the fact is there. We know how much we need to cut back and we cannot afford to miss opportunities to achieve those gains. So, thank you.

We’re on page 5-25, activity summary, office of the comptroller general, operations expenditure summary, $20.475 million. Agreed?

Moving on to page 5-26, activity summary, office of the comptroller general, grants and contributions, contributions, $14.085 million. Agreed?

Information item, page 5-27, office of the comptroller general, active positions. Agreed?

Moving on to page 5-28, activity summary, office of the chief information officer, activity description.

Page 5-29, activity summary, office of the chief information officer, operations expenditure summary, $1.309 million. Agreed?

Information item, page 5-30, office of the chief information officer, active positions. Agreed?

Page 5-31, information item, lease commitments - infrastructure. Agreed?

Moving on to 5-32, information item, Liquor Revolving Fund. Agreed?

Page 5-33, information item, Liquor Revolving Fund, active positions.