Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, so, you know, you look at the Whati transmission line and, you know, some of the -- how it aligns under our 2030 energy strategy and, you know, it is a priority for this government to be able to look at some alternative energy solutions. And, yes, we did spend some money and, you know, we did some technical studies. We did review and update preliminary environmental studies, looking at additional traditional knowledge and some of the land use studies as well. So, yes, Madam Chair, we did do some work on this transmission line. Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Can I get a commitment out of the Minister to provide a list of the studies, their cost, and could she make the studies available if I ask for them? On a confidential basis, of course. Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, not knowing exactly the entirety of the studies, I'll certainly commit to get a list of what exactly has been done and confirm if there is some reason that they can't be made publicly or made confidentially available, I will provide an explanation as to why.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, one of the issues that I had with the Whati transmission line back in 2019, and remains so today, is for the cost of the project -- and I tabled documents in the last Assembly -- showed for the cost of doing the Whati transmission line, you could actually get mini hydro in three Tlicho communities for about the same cost. So why would we build this huge transmission line to one community when we could actually get sustainable alternative energy in three different communities? I just don't get it. Can the Minister tell me whether any analysis has been done around that. Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So again, Madam Chair, I can't speak to what may or may not have been presented by the Member back in 2019. I can say that the Tlicho Government, I understand, is in support of this transmission project and it certainly is a part of the priorities of this government to make sure we are working with Indigenous governments when -- typically on projects that are on Indigenous lands. And, you know, I'm not sure where the disconnect is between the information that's available. So perhaps in those studies, it may well answer those questions. The information I have available to me is that in fact transmission will be much more durable and last many times much longer than what the mini hydro would which certainly factors in in terms of the costing. As well as in terms of the operations and maintenance costs, that it's much easier and much cheaper to maintain. And certainly can set the stage for other projects in the region that are hydro-based. So, you know, Madam Chair, I'll pause there. And if -- certainly, if there's more detail that we would like to get into on the specifics of the project in the review of this, I'm welcome to another question and I can turn it back to the Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thanks to the Minister for that level of detail. Kind of hard for me to understand why mini hydro would be any less durable or last less time than a big hydro project like Snare which actually requires a massive investment to replace turbines and all kinds of stuff. And your technical folks will know way more about the work that's required in the Snare system to keep it going, because that was built in the 1940s and is going to require a massive investment to modernize and update it again. So, yeah, if there is any more detailed work that's been done to -- you know, do some sort of comparison between mini hydro versus building a huge oversized transmission line to one community, I would love to see that. So can I get a commitment out of the Minister to search their archives and find out if that kind of analysis was actually done and share the information. Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Member. Minister.

Madam Chair, this is going to be studies and information done by expertise within Infrastructure so I'll turn it back to the Minister of Infrastructure again, please.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I didn't hear it turned over to me but I would be quite happy to answer that question.

So I mean, you look at the -- the Whati transmission line, and I do want to say that it is more reliable than mini hydro, and not only that but sometimes what seems to be the cheapest option isn't always the best option. However, there were cost estimates done on a potential 1.2 megawatt mini hydro project on the Lac La Martre River about a decade ago. We look at, you know, the Tlicho government and just working with the government to be able to, you know, to look at some of the projects at the same site however conserve some of the Whati and the North Slave as well. Yeah, I think that is something that we can look at as well. Thank you, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thanks, Madam Chair. While the Minister is looking at it, could she commit to share that information with this side of the House? Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Member. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there is, you know, when this project first started, there was a lot of work that was put into it to be able to determine whether it's feasible or not to continue with this project, and this is something that we are looking at in terms of some of the reports and the work that Infrastructure's done to be able to have a look at the projects. That's perhaps something we can look into and if we're able to share it, absolutely. Thank you, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Well, I look forward to the Minister opening the vaults and sharing that information and when I get it, I'll look at it carefully and probably have lots more questions about this money because I just think that we would get a much bigger bang for our buck and help serve three communities for the same cost of doing this one project that I just think is not -- you know, there was a lot of feasibility work done on the mini hydro projects as well that was in some of the information I tabled in the last Assembly. And I just don't get why our government wants to invest in this large project that is -- I don't think it's even -- I understand the need to get a sustainable and durable power supply to Whati but I don't think this is the best way to do it in my opinion. But I'm more than happy to look at the information the Minister's going to provide to me. Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Member. I will take that as a comment.

Any further questions, comments? Seeing none. Supplementary Estimates, (Infrastructure Expenditures). No. 1, 2021-2022. Department of Infrastructure, operations expenditures, programs and service, not previously authorized, $8,046,000. Does committee agree? Thank you.

Supplementary Estimates, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2021-2022. Department of Infrastructure, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $10,254,000. Does committee agree? Thank you.

Committee, we will now consider the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs on page 8. Supplementary Estimates, (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2021-2022. Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, operations expenditures, regional operations, not previously authorized, $2,500,000. Does committee agree? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I usually try to find something nice to say about my Cabinet colleagues, at least once a day. And this is a good one. So I want to compliment them for finding some money to start to close the municipal funding gap. But can someone tell me what the current, you know, calculation of the municipal funding gap is? I know there was some targets set in the mandate that Cabinet developed. So how much is the gap and how does this meet the mandate commitments and, you know, how close are we getting. Thanks, Madam Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, Madam Chair, we'll certainly see if, in fact, there's an estimate that perhaps the Department of Finance might be aware of, although I'm not sure -- I mean, again, that's not necessarily the information we would have brought on the supplementary estimates for this particular sup.

The commitment that was made in the priorities is, of course, is to reduce the funding gap by $5 million so we certainly are taking a significant step towards that with this additional $2.5 million here, even in the one-time event. But, yeah, Minister -- or sorry, Madam Chair, I'm going to have to commit to get back on an update with the numbers as to what this will do to the municipal funding gap. I don't think I have that here or not in terms of this infrastructure sup.

CHAIRPERSON (MS. SEMMLER) Thank you, Minister.

Any further questions, comments? No? All right, Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures) No. 1, 2021-2022, Department of Municipal and Community Affairs Operation Expenditures, regional operations, not previously authorized, $2,500,000. Does committee agree?