With people’s lives hanging in the balance on a medevac or an air ambulance flight from the Northwest Territories into Edmonton, you would think that the Government of the Northwest Territories would have a position on the closure of the City Centre Airport in Edmonton. I’m wondering why the Minister and why the government hasn’t taken a position on that closure. I think that’s very strange, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

As I indicated already, we have been involved. We have put our input into the review process. This closure comes as a result of two referendums over 10 years. This is not a new issue. I know it’s coming to the attention of some people as a new issue, but this has been in the works for a long time. The NWT is not the only one who flies into the municipal airport for medical services; people from all over Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan are landing at that airport. So we are all involved in working together to come up with a plan, because we do respect the fact that the people of Edmonton have passed two referendums wanting this airport to be closed so that they can use the real estate for different reasons. That’s a democratic process. My job as Minister of Health and Social Services is to make sure that we are at the table and put forward our concerns and our needs, and we are doing that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve been here for almost seven years and I’ve never heard this Minister or a previous Minister talk about this issue publicly. I’ve never seen a Minister of Health and Social Services come before standing committee and share the concerns of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Minister of Health and Social Services has an obligation to the people of the Northwest Territories to protect them, to make sure that they have access to the services available in Edmonton and that is at the City Centre Airport, Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to ask the Minister if she could share with us any correspondence that the Minister’s had with, let’s say, the mayor of Edmonton or, let’s say, the Premier or Health Minister in Alberta, to show that the Government of the Northwest Territories actually cared and actually had a position on this. Thank you.

We have communicated in this regard and I believe I have given a copy of that previously. I would be happy to share that with the Member. That’s not a problem. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just first say that I did fail to mention that not only Minister Bob McLeod was in Hay River on the weekend, but, in fact, all of the McLeods were there, including Ms. Lee and Minister Miltenberger. So I do thank them for their trip down there.

I’d like to address my questions today, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources and a Minister who sits on the Ministerial Energy Coordinating Committee. I’m getting my initiatives mixed up here.

Mr. Speaker, we have, as a government, been trying to convert government buildings, where possible, from burning fuel heating oil to having pellet boilers to heat them. This has required a considerable amount of investment, but it is something that is visionary in terms of looking forward in trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions here in the North and contributing and doing our part to protect the environment. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if having a pellet mill in the Northwest Territories is part of a strategy on the part of the government for manufacturing the pellets here in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a two-stage process that we are interested in and investing in. First, of course, is building the market, doing the retrofits, encouraging people to use alternative forms of energy, which is well underway, and through that process build a market so that we can, in fact, sustain our own value-added industry in the Northwest Territories. There are two basic approaches: the one is to have a fixed site where we invest in a fairly large production facility similar to what’s there in High Level, but there’s also significant interest that has been expressed almost everywhere we’ve been in the Boreal forest area for a regional or small community-sized wood pellet plants or woodchip plants. So we’re looking at those two approaches. But the key is we do really want to push for a value-added industry that will allow us to provide our own energy. Thank you.

Where are we at in terms of determining whether or not the inventories for the harvest of product that could be made into pellets is available and sustainable in the Northwest Territories?

We have done some broad inventories. Very specifically, in the South Slave we’ve worked with the mill down there and we’ve brought a consultant in to look at both the market and the inventory that would be available. And that work has been concluded, I believe.

Mr. Speaker, if the Minister could be so kind as to share with us and with the public the summary or a quick conclusion of that process of that study. What would it have determined would be the viability of making pellets in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, there are two key issues. At present, the market is still in its infancy in terms of what’s needed in terms of supply. Then the other one, especially in the South Slave, given it’s an unsettled claims area, is the issue of access to appropriate amounts of timber that would allow us to, in fact, have an ongoing supply. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of the interim measures agreement and the unsettled claims and access to inventories, what does the government see as their role in persuading or creating agreements with First Nations that would make it financially viable for them and for the users of this product that could be developed here in the Northwest Territories? What does he see is the government’s role in that process?

We see this is a significant economic opportunity in the Northwest Territories. We’re spending millions of dollars building the market with our own buildings and facilities, as well as encouraging private individuals to convert. We support the whole issue of partnerships with the private sector and aboriginal governments as a way forward. The other issue, of course, is the size of the plant and the current volume that’s necessary or that’s available to justify the expense. Indications are that a plant that size is bigger considerably than we would need in the foreseeable future. But there are opportunities, we believe, with aboriginal governments and businesses to partner up with the private sector to see what may be possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I have made mention in my Member’s statement about the gouging that is happening in Fort Good Hope, especially with the co-op store and the situation that elders and people have to be put under in terms of cashing a basic government cheque. I want to ask the Premier what steps this government can do to help the people in Fort Good Hope and situations like that, unforeseen circumstances that happened to them and that they are put in this situation. What steps can this government do to protect the people in Fort Good Hope are living under these types of conditions? I believe that they are being held ransom.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the area of the cost of living in our communities, there are a number of initiatives that we are undertaking. Some of it has been highlighted today in Members’ statements; the electricity review, for example. The effects on the commercial rates would then be passed down to the customers in many of our communities. That is one of the biggest things we are looking at doing.

The other area, as the Member has highlighted in his Member’s statement, would be a little more difficult to deal with in a sense that how a business operates when someone wants to go in and cash their cheque, for example, that would be a little more difficult. I would have to talk with my colleagues here to see if there are any initiatives that could be about that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is correct; there are some initiatives that I could list off, actually provide in terms of how we are working with our small communities to subsidize or to lower the cost of living in our communities. The point, Mr. Speaker, I wanted to ask the Premier, is would he exercise some of his muscle or his authority in terms of how do we help communities like Fort Good Hope that are dealing with situations that I pointed out now? They are living as right today as we speak in terms of what can he and his Cabinet come together and present something on the floor that would protect future incidents like this in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, some of these incidents may have increased since the burning of the Northern Store in that community, therefore creating one outlet there in the community, the Co-operative’s initiative. That becomes part of the challenge. A number of our communities that have only one place to shop is a challenge as everyone has to go through that store. It is a challenge. I would again have to commit to getting back with my colleagues to see if there are any initiatives under consumer protection, for example, to see what may be taken under that area. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the Premier getting back to me on this initiative. I want to ask the Premier in terms of the types of protection that could give people in Fort Good Hope from the co-op, for example, that they feel that they are getting gouged at the co-op store in terms of how can this government here... When will the Premier report back to me in terms of this is what they could do in terms of helping the people of Fort Good Hope to at least reduce their cost at the co-op store in terms of lowering their cost of foods?

Mr. Speaker, one of the other initiatives that has been undertaken not necessarily by our government but the federal government on the Food Mail Program, we are expecting to hear some news on that. I know Minister Strahl has been working under that initiative, so we are waiting to see what the final outcome of those discussions would be and what that might do for the constituents of the Northwest Territories that use that program.

The other area, again, is within our own initiatives. The cost of energy in our communities is something that we are undergoing and could have a direct impact as early as this upcoming fall and winter season.

As by responding to the question here in the House, I will be speaking with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs which I believe is the consumer protection area within that department. We will have a discussion and see how soon we can get back. Thank you.