Thank you, Madam Chair. I actually had a lot of really excited people talking about the e-bicycle rebate and the Minister's announcement that they were expanding that to other regions outside of just Yellowknife. So my question there is will the $10,000 be enough now? Are we actually going to add more money in given that we've expanded the area of eligible people. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, you know, in previous budget, we didn't have a line item for electrical vehicles. I've heard from the Members that, you know, this is of interest here in the Northwest Territories so we added a line. Actually we're calling it a pilot project. So this year, although it's only $10,000, it might not be enough but it's a pilot; it's a test. We will be able to assess it and perhaps if we have a good uptake, then perhaps we can set aside more money next year. And, actually, I think the amount for next year is a bit higher so, you know, we are working with what we have. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you. And I do recognize this is, like, a tiny amount, a drop in the hat of this department's budget. But, you know, every, you know, new journey is taken with the first step. So this is a start. And I do appreciate that, you know, it did sound like if there's more than the $10,000 that is wanted that we would perhaps be looking to add money here so that's great.

I just wanted to ask a bit about around the Arctic Energy Alliance. It always noted and sort of touted as being the solution of getting money out the door, etcetera. And, you know, I'm always in support of NGOs doing work because I think that they often are more creative and efficient than the government can be in doing that. But that being said, I look at the board of directors for Arctic Energy Alliance and it is all, for the most part, Government of the Northwest Territories employees, public utilities employees, Northlands, things like that. So I have a lot of concern, given the conversation we've had around deputy ministers on boards, that perhaps this, again, is an area where while this is an NGO, the government is very heavily directing what happens here. That being said, then I wonder if there's perhaps opportunities for this to now start being put into more of the communities' hands. And I recognize there are employees within Arctic Energy Alliance that are representative to the different regions and I think that's great. So can the Minister or the department speak to the ability of Arctic Energy Alliance to actually execute? Do they always spend their money when they're given it, and what is the plan to diversify the board here and really stop having it be government directed? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, although Arctic Energy Alliance is arm's length, we do work in good partnership. You know, there's a lot of great things that the Arctic Energy Alliance are doing on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. And, you know, they have -- we're starting to expand different things and the people that are at the table are, you know -- are people that provide good advice to the board. If I can have Mr. Jenkins just speak a little bit more to that, thanks.

Yes. Mr. Jenkins.

Thank you. Member, do you have --

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I understand what you're saying but nothing was responded to about the fact that this is a directed by government people. So when I hear that it's arm's length, I have to kind of laugh at how arm's length is it when you're just putting money over in a pot that's then directed and controlled by people that also work for the government. When I hear that it's because these people -- from the Minister, that it's because these people can offer advice, well, I can right now think of someone in your riding, Madam Chair, that would be an amazing technical advisor to a group like Arctic Energy Alliance. And given, though, that history of what goes on sometimes with this department, these types of people are not interested in being part of this work and I think that's a mistake, and I think it's a loss of good input here. The private sector, to me, is completely missing from Arctic Energy Alliance's board. And to me, that's just -- I don't know even know what to say about that. So maybe I'll just leave it at that. I don't feel that my question was answered about their efficiencies and how much they spend their money and how well they do it. But the other piece to that, actually I will add is that, you know, again, this is -- Arctic Energy Alliance's programs are often for people that are living in Yellowknife, that have a lot of money, that have good paying jobs. It's not for people that are living paycheque to paycheque. I do recognize there was some money that's put aside to help people offset the money that has to be put up upfront but, really, this program is designed for non-Indigenous people living in Yellowknife, is my opinion.

Moving forward, I would like to talk a little bit about some of these projects that are here that are very small but I think could be quite effective in, you know, getting some money out. And things around like the biomass energy projects, there's only $100,000 there. You know, there's community -- sorry, commercial energy conservation efficiency program, only $200,000 there.

You know, if we really want to get smart with having our communities and our businesses become energy efficient, we need to put the money in their hands. And this doesn't seem like enough. And so could the Minister or the department speak to what their thoughts are on whether this is -- these are subscribed funds, do they need to be increased, could we be putting more money there? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the -- you know, there's perhaps never enough money out there for any type of assistance. But, I mean, we are working with the federal government in partnership with the Arctic Energy Alliance to be able to look at what sort of federal programs are out there so that we can look at perhaps adding more programs into the alliance.

And I do -- just going back a little bit, Madam Chair, so we had about 2,716 rebates. And I'm looking at all the different regions and, for example, the Beaufort Delta was the second highest at 644 rebates. So, I mean, all the different regions has a fair share of rebates. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that's the intent of having the electrical vehicle. The study says that the charging corridor would be set up on Highways No. 1 and No. 3 from Yellowknife to the Alberta border. That's our kind of big picture right now, Madam Chair. So we're hoping that some of the stations could be placed along the way to Fort Smith. So, I mean, this is a bigger picture. We are working on smaller little parts of this. You know, having said that, these don't happen over night but this is the bigger picture for us. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Great Slave.

Luckily, with a minute left. That's appreciated. All right, Aurora Research Institute's Energy Project, it's only at 70. You know, again, I want to -- sorry, I'm just looking to make sure I know where I'm talking about here.

So the wind potential. Has there been any sort of new areas of interest where we are looking at potentially bringing in wind? I always hear very anecdotally that the wind is picking up here in Yellowknife and such. I mean, whether that's true or not, I'm not sure but it sure feels very cold so -- and fast and hard. So I'm wondering if there's a potential for that in other areas that we haven't looked at yet before now. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, you know, we have targets to meet within reducing greenhouse gas emissions. So, I mean, we as a department, we as a government, are looking at, you know, innovative ways to be able to reduce that. And if I can have Mr. Jenkins speak a little bit more about some of the things that we are doing and looking forward to. Thanks.

Thank you. Mr. Jenkins.

Thank you. Are there any further questions from Members under energy and strategic initiatives? Member for Monfwi.