[Microphone turned off]

Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Infrastructure, do you have any comments?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for that. I thank the Member for her questions around some of the infrastructure projects because you look at this and these projects were part of our mandate. It's part of our Assembly, and for us to look at proceeding with some of the projects, if and where we can, I think, is important. I did speak earlier about some of the federal funding that we receive, and we need to continue to pursue more and more funding as we start to link up some of our roads to get communities connected, to make best use of some of our mineral resources and just our resources in general that are out there. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Did you have anything further, Member for Thebacha?

No, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking at three maps, right now, and I just want to be honest with each and every one of you in here: I am very conflicted about all of this, the SGP, in particular. Last night, we had a hearing in SCEDE on the wolves and caribou and some of the calving grounds. We talked about that yesterday, in particular. Then, I'm looking at another map here, with the SGP, where it goes, what the ultimate end routes are going to be and where it starts out. That's something else I'm looking at. I went on Wikipedia, and I thought, "I want to see exactly where my riding sits." This sits right in my riding, so I think it's appropriate that I actually say something about this.

It is about balance. I know that the YKDFN and the GNWT worked out a deal to do the environmental assessment, and for me, that part is good, the environmental assessment, to go down that route. To me, that means that there is food being put on plates for my constituents. That is so important. You don't get anywhere by being totally on one side of the fence or being totally on the other side of the fence. You have to try to find that fine line and do what is best for your people. That's where I sit, right now. I look at this, and I want to think about: where are we going to be sitting 50 years from now, down the road? What are our caribou herds going to be looking like? What is our development going to be looking like? I always try to find solutions through this. I looked at one map here, and I am happy that, looking through some of the plans for this, there are a bunch of routes, at least, to find ways to not disturb wildlife as best they can.

I liked when I kind of went through some of the other developments we have, because there are not only diamond mines. There is other development, and it's important. This is what kept our economy afloat for a very long time, and we still have be mindful of that. When I drove over to Deninu Kue, I drove by Pine Point, and there used to be a railroad there. They took it down because the zinc mine closed down at Pine Point many years ago, but now, they are reopening it. They are talking about revisiting that and going and finding a mutual, beneficial deal, there, with the Deninu Kue and with other parties; of course, with the Metis. That is what I want to see. Too many times, we've had so many developments, no matter what the development was, no matter what the infrastructure was. We talked about Taltson. They came in, and we had no benefits for the longest time. For me, from my point of view, I am sick of seeing that. From here on forward, I will only support these big projects if we see our people benefit, up in the North; our Indigenous companies benefit. Because, if we don't, then what? What are we going to have left for our future generations?

I know that, in the future, I will probably, myself here sitting in this House, have some tough decisions to make, but right now, the way I feel about it, there is a balanced approach to it. You still have to find ways to keep your people working and to balance that fine line of respecting the environment and respecting how your ancestors used to hunt. My great-grandparents, they used to hunt in a lot of these hunting grounds. Again, I'm looking at the map. It's a vast map that my constituents from Ndilo, Detah, Lutselk'e, and Fort Resolution used to hunt, and they still do. You can't forget that.

I don't have too many questions on that right now, but like I said, it's about balance through all of this. That is where my mind sits on that. I don't want to sound too cheesy, but I do love the North. I love the people. I love the sea. I am so passionate about this, and that is why I am sitting here. However, as leaders, we are going to have to make those tough choices to keep our economy afloat and to try to, at the same time, keep our caribou herds alive. We have to respect our environment and try to find that way through. I am hoping we have a lot of very good experts to help us navigate this. We have not only just one department. We have ENR that we have to partner up with. We have a lot of partnerships with Indigenous governments up North, around us, and we have to always be mindful of that and find collaborative approaches for how we want to navigate this. That is where I stand on this.

This almost sounded like a Commissioner's address speech, but no, I am really passionate about this. Like I said, there are going to be some tough choices, but this is all about balance. That is something I want to say. I really have a lot still. We are one year in, but we still have a few years left. That means there is going to be a lot of consultation with my leaders in my riding and a lot of my constituents, and I really need to get a good, solid pulse of where they want to go. We still have to think about the Akaitcho that would likely be signed. We have to think about those things and the Metis, as well. We can't forget about the Metis and those implications. I just want to leave it at that. I will leave that as a comment. I don't have questions. As I said before, if anything pops up in my head, I usually just shoot an email to the Ministers or the Premier, and that is how I will go about that. Okay. Marsi cho, and thank you very much.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Are there any further comments or questions to the corporate management under Infrastructure on pages 44 and 45? Seeing none, I will call the activity. Infrastructure, corporate management, infrastructure investments, $30,533,000. Does committee agree?

We will now turn to programs and services on page 46, with information items from page 47 through to 49. Members, any questions comments? Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If we look at our asset infrastructure, we get that $465 million deficit. Then, if we looked at our roads, I am sure it's another billion. If we look at our airports, it's probably more. Then, I think, if we looked at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, it would probably be the most terrifying of all of them. I see in here we have a number of hydro projects. We have a number of new kind of Taltson pre-expansion, Bluefish Hydro Upgrade. I am just looking for someone to explain to me the relationship between us spending infrastructure dollars for the Power Corporation and their budget. If we spend this money, does part of it come out of their budget? Do they have an obligation to pay a part of this infrastructure through rate increases? Can someone explain the relationship between NTPC putting together their capital needs and then it ultimately getting into Infrastructure's programs and services capital needs? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to defer this over to Mr. Loutitt.

Mr. Loutitt.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize there is this tension with every jurisdiction and their power corporation and the power corporation supposedly having to run rates that keep their power consistent and allow them to maintain their infrastructure. Then, consistently power corporations do not want to raise rates, so they just do not maintain their infrastructure. Then, the government has to bail them out. Hence, we are subsidizing the Power Corporation, which we have done multiple times and are continuing to do here. My question, though, is: when we build all of these new upgrades and maintenance for the Power Corporation, are they required to go recoup any of that infrastructure cost through a rate increase? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am going to get Mr. Loutitt to answer that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Deputy Minister Loutitt.

Thank you, Deputy Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.