Thank you. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My next question is in regards to continuing a conversation about electric vehicle pilot project successes that we heard about earlier today. I'm wondering if there is a plan from the GNWT to build electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Northwest Territories?

Our neighbour to the west, the Yukon, currently has 11 charging stations available to residents and an additional five planned for 2022. And so I'm wondering if we can hear about the plans for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Just remember to wait for your light to come on so the translators have time to catch up. Thank you. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So we did launch a pilot electric vehicle program in June of 2020 with the cooperation from the Arctic Energy Alliance which provided $5,000 rebate for new vehicle. And also as part of that, we provided $500 to be able to provide for charging stations in hydropower communities. And that's a tricky thing because, I mean some of these electrical vehicles won't work all across the territories. We recognize that. However, we applied for federal funding to be able to deploy electric vehicle fast charging station along the highway. So this is something that we as a department are working with Canada to be able to look at advancing that. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Madam -- I can't see -- I don't have a light anymore so I can't -- oh, okay, there we go. Thank you. Not sure what light I was looking for. Thank you very much. And my apologies to the interpreters for jumping the gun there.

And I appreciate that the government is going currently back to the feds to work on some agreements for those charging stations. I do note that the investment in energy section of the main estimates has come down by about $4 million. Looking on the next page, I see that that's from the reductions to the Low Carbon Leadership Economy Fund. And the concern there is this is at a time where we really want to be investing in innovative energy solutions for the Northwest Territories.

So can the Minister speak to how they intend to replace that $4 million so that we can continue to grow our investment in energy and not reduce it? Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we had a lower uptake in the LCELF. So the department, you know, worked with our federal funding counterparts to be able to arrange some changes to how we can utilize this program a bit more.

The agreement caps contributions to 25 percent for businesses and individuals and 75 percent for governments. So we know that from experience that 25 percent is not good enough to incent GHG reduction initiatives here in the North, and as well as communities that are accessing federal funding.

If I can, maybe just get Mr. Jenkins to speak a little more about that, because I saw that on the line as well and that was a big flag for me. So I mean, we as a government we're able to work with our federal counterparts to be able to ensure that going forward we're able to make use of the project funding. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. ADM Jenkins.

Thank you, Mr. Jenkins. Member for Kam Lake.

Yeah, thank you very much for that. And I guess the department, I suppose, has heard that there's definitely support for growth in this area from this side of the House, and I just want to -- and I value what Mr. Jenkins just said about the AEA program as well but just want to also reiterate, and support the words of my colleague from Hay River South, about investment in Arctic Energy Alliance as well and increasing that line item so that we can see some more funding to innovative energy supports in the territory. Thank you.

Thank you. Didn't have any questions? Are there any further questions under this section? Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. On page 248, the large scale commercial and industrial under the Low Carbon Leadership Economy Fund, I think that's supposed to be -- whatever, why is that bouncing around like a yo-yo? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There's the three different variances. So you look at the variance of the Greenhouse Gas Grant Fund, the variance is due to lower than expected anticipated uptake of the program application. So that's the big variance there of 2.237. And then there's a decrease because we had, as Mr. Jenkins pointed out, we had to reprofile the cash flow for this in 2021-2022. And now you're seeing an increase because we're able to cash flow some of these that are related to an amendment now and an extension. So we went back to the government and requested an extension. So that's why you see it jumping around all over the place.

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Yeah okay, thanks Madam Chair. Thanks to the Minister for that. I guess I'm worried about what this does to the continuity and availability of funds, particularly for Arctic Energy Alliance. I see from further up in the table there that they have a flat kind of amount of core funding, it appears, from the Department of Infrastructure of $1.6 million and there's this incremental funds through the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund that kind of go all over the place. So how does that affect the ability of Arctic Energy Alliance to provide funding for its programs? Because I've gotten complaints from my constituents about the money running out quickly for certain programs or -- and I've raised this in the House before. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just looking at some of the projects. The budget here is -- it's the same across the board. It is what we've given Arctic Energy Alliance in -- 1.6, but yet we recognize some of the increases that we're able to divide within the government under different projects.

I'm going to see if Mr. Brennan can speak a little bit more about how we're able to, from a financial perspective, be able to move one line item under grants and contribution and transfers and then be able to recognize in another part of the exchange here the difference. So thank you.

Thank you, Minister. ADM Brennan.

Thank you. Member for Frame Lake.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yeah, I look forward to a supplementary appropriation to support Arctic Energy Alliance and the good programs that it offers.

But I want to switch gears and move to probably some higher level questions around energy and strategic initiatives. I raised this with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and was told that this was something that he wasn't really responsible for.

So when I look at the GNWT energy initiatives report for 2021 and the forecasts of greenhouse gas reductions, by the year 2025 we will have only reached 20 percent of the target that was set through the Pan-Canadian Framework. And so we have to reach another 80 percent reductions in the last five years. So I always complained about how the last Cabinet's approach was back end loaded, and it's coming true.

So what is the department doing about making sure that GNWT, or the Northwest Territories more properly, meets the Pan-Canadian Framework, because the current energy strategy is failing and failing quickly. Thanks, Madam Chair.