Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to get a briefing. I think the standing committee should probably get a briefing on the formula funding arrangement pretty soon so we better understand this, but even with regard to, say, the resource revenues that we get to keep under the devolution agreement, there was an independently commissioned study by the Department of ITI that said that that arrangement wasn't the greatest and that we should be able to keep more of those sorts of revenues as a result of changes that could be made to the territorial formula funding arrangement and maybe the devolution agreement. Is the Minister aware of opportunities there are going to be to renegotiate other provisions of the territorial formula arrangement if it's renewed for five years? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

On the resource royalty revenues, I mean, we started receiving those revenues at devolution before that were a number of years before that; I don't believe we got any revenue at all from the resources that were extracted from the Northwest Territories. It was a long time coming, and it's a start. I hope we will continue to see that pile of money increase in the future, which would mean that there would be more jobs in the Northwest Territories.

Again, the Member makes a good point, though. The territorial formula financing that we have with the federal government is quite complex. There are a number of different components to it. If it's a wish of committee, I would be glad to provide them with a briefing, be it a written briefing or an in-person brief, a technical briefing, and then we can all understand the territorial formula financing. My understanding, again, is that we get to keep all of our own source revenue that we generate. Otherwise, why would be raise taxes or anything like that if we are not able to keep it? Again, I will have that discussion with committee and we will see as we go forward that we are all better informed on the territorial formula financing agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure, as Infrastructure is the department that handles our energy policy for this government. Earlier today the honourable Member for Yellowknife North spoke about nuclear energy as a potential solution to remote industrial operations in the high Arctic and as a solution for off-grid mines. I know that many industry actors who are operating in the Northwest Territories have been looking into the potential of nuclear technology. I haven't heard a lot from this government on its position on nuclear. Do we have one, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nuclear is an interesting conversation. I think, if you read the documents, we are interested in all new technologies that are coming down the pipe to help us meet the energy crunch that is coming and the greenhouse gas reductions that we will have to meet. The Nuclear Board of Canada was at the Arctic Energy Conference in Inuvik to participate. They were there with constituency of a few people to pay attention to what's going on and the needs across the North. We continue to follow the nuclear technology as it improves across the country.

At PDAC, I ran into the federal parliamentary secretary who was having a meeting with the many nuclear people and how it could be implemented in the country, but it's a long ways off. This thing has to go through some strict rationale on how it is going to be used safely in our country, and I'm not quite sure if the technology is even there to be implementing it at this point, but we are definitely following it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you to the Minister for clearing that up. I am glad that this government is on the case. I think nuclear is one of those areas of energy that gets a bad rep because of some very high-profile global disasters, but that shouldn't persuade us away from looking at the potential. Canada has had nuclear reactors operators in southern provinces for many years, such as in Ontario, who has a famously successful nuclear program that hasn't had any major problems.

I would like to ask the Minister if he is aware of any territorial jurisdiction that could allow us to pursue our own nuclear program without the federal government having to design it for us?

I believe anything that pertains to nuclear energy in this country has to follow the jurisdiction of the federal government. As I have said, though, we are paying close attention to how this is rolling out. I have had a few documents that actually crossed my desk that people have sent me about it. As innovation comes along and technology changes, I am sure that is no different than the impacts of climate change. This is something that is coming. It is something that I think not just the Northwest Territories are going to have to have a look at as an energy needs as the future comes, but it is a global thing that I think many nations are going to have to look at.

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the industry has been looking at this technology, including industries working in similar conditions, and potentially in the Northwest Territories themselves. Does the Minister know if there are any industrial energy projects that the GNWT could potentially partner with and work with the federal government to move nuclear projects forward in the Northwest Territories?

I'm not aware of any large industrial components that are interested in doing this. As I have stated, I don't believe the technology is there yet. This is something that we are just keeping an eye on moving forward and how we can have it implemented in the future once it becomes a reliable source of energy.

Thank you. Final question. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for responding on an area that there is not much meat on the bones, so to speak. There is a public concern over the use of this technology. I think we are reminded of some public engagement that went on earlier in this term. Clearly, if this is the way of the future, and the Minister is confident that the industry is moving in this area, and the economy is moving in this area, is he willing to commit to put a discussion paper together or some talking points that could be shared with the public so we can get Northerners in on the conversation and allay any hesitation they have of embracing technology, which as he said, is on the way of being normative in western civilization? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I said, our energy strategy moving forward talks about all the types of future innovative and different technologies that are coming down the pipe. At this point, I don't think I want to put our resources into putting a paper into something that is probably quite a distance out, but we will continue to monitor it going forward, and if some more information that crosses my desk that I think is going to be relevant to the conversation of how we do the energy mix to lower our greenhouse gas emissions for the Northwest Territories, at that time I will look at bringing that out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I actually appreciate being asked the question so I can clarify some of the information. As stated last week, the Norman Wells fire department was not shut down. That was an error on behalf of the media. We have been, before actually, before the Auditor General report, we have been going in and doing assessments of community fire departments. We have done 15 so far, and each one of those have come with recommendations. Norman Wells was identified as the need for more training, and there were some issues regarding the qualifications of the fire people to be able to operate some of the equipment, so we scaled back a bit, but we did not close down the department. Just to clarify that, that it is still operational. They are in need of some training, and we are currently working with them to make sure that training happens.

I will answer to that also. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the answer. It sounds like there was very poor communication that happened between the Town of Norman Wells, its personnel, and the department, and so on. Are there some lessons learned there?

Yes. Again, there are always lessons learned with anything, when things go good and when things go bad, there are always lessons to be learned. Within that one, again, I have to focus that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is not in charge of all the fire departments. That is a community issue, but we do work with them closely to provide the support, the training, and the services that they need to make sure that they are functioning well. There was a breakdown in communication. We talked with the council.

They are actually going to be on this Monday coming up, March 19, the town administrator, and with Municipal and Community Affairs onside. We will be having an inter-agency meeting in the afternoon, and then we will be having a public meeting in the evening so that people in the community can actually hear and dispel any fears that they may have.

The Office of the Fire Marshall is also going to meet with the fire department on Monday and Tuesday, the 19^th and the 20^th, to put in some details on the implementation plan and how they are going to get their team up to standards with the training necessary.

It sounds like this issue is well on its way to being resolved. My only remaining concern is that, in the reporting on this issue, the reporter tried the fire line on Friday and got no answer. Does the Minister have any information on whether the fire emergency line is operational?

That is new news to me. I have also concerns if someone is trying to phone a fire line and doesn't get through. I would like to say that the community, the council should be available at all times. We will check into that. I do know there may have been a glitch. They are just in the process of hiring a brand new fire chief, and the new chief is going to start work in early April. That still no excuse, so I will look into it to make sure if people call for support, emergency support, that somebody is going to answer that phone.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to the Commissioners opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 181-18(3): Midwifery Programs and Policies." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Member for Yellowknife Centre.