Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That's two yeses. We agree that this is one of the most important green energy projects here in the Northwest Territories. It's a project for which we will continue to work hard to advance and is key to both our ability to both reduce emissions in the future as well as support resource development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, we have engaged with the Salt River First Nation and we will continue to engage with them going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the Member is referencing Salt River First Nation who made the decision to withdraw from the MOU. The Salt River First Nation is an important party that we would like to engage with on a potential business partnership alongside with our other Indigenous partners. The steering committee memberships have kept a seat at the table under the MOU for Salt River First Nation if they wish to return. We also offered some briefing for the new leadership on this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my constituency assistant Arlene Hansen, who is here with me this week. I would also like to recognize Elizabeth Kunnizzie from Inuvik, and I knew Elizabeth growing up Aklavik. Quyananni.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to strengthening connections with air transportation businesses and industries. Collaboration with worldwide aviation leaders is vital to the Yellowknife Airport's success and to the growth of our territory through its tourism and employment sectors.

As the primary aviation hub for the Northwest Territories, the Yellowknife Airport hosts a number of cold weather testing activities during the winter season. These activities offer significant benefits for the local economy, with the groups staying in Yellowknife for several weeks, sometimes months.

Cold weather testing increases revenue growth for Yellowknife Airport partners and local businesses like restaurants, hotels, vehicle rentals, and much more. It also allows us to diversify our winter tourism markets by developing new sector of business tourism.

Mr. Speaker, after hosting Korean Aerospace Industries in 2022, we secured two cold weather testing opportunities with Airbus for the 2023 winter season.

Airbus is currently conducting cold weather testing on two different aircrafts: the H160 helicopter and the CC295 Kingfisher - an aircraft used by Canadian Search and Rescue. The last group is expected to complete testing at the end of this month.

The partnership with Airbus has created an opportunity to host over 40 engineers, pilots, and support staff between January 6th and March 31st in Yellowknife, with logistics support from Summit Air and Deton Cho Logistics.

Mr. Speaker, cold weather testing with Airbus is one of the many successful partnerships between the Yellowknife Airport and aviation leaders, bringing innovation and economic opportunity to the North. We look forward to welcoming more cold weather testing opportunities and will continue to affirm our place as leader in this industry. Thank you,

Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Great Slave on March 1st, 2023, regarding renewable energy.

Regarding the request for information about how much of the $20 million in funding secured for Taltson Hydro Expansion has been retained with northern businesses and how much has been sole sourced to former Government of the Northwest Territories, or GNWT, employees, I can provide some information in addition to what is already on the public record.

To date, approximately $11.5 million has been spent on pre-feasibility work for the project. This includes activities related to regulatory planning, commercial development, forming Indigenous partnerships, and establishing the technical parameters for transmission and generation components of the project. Of this amount, approximately $6.2 million, or 54.6 percent, of spending has been distributed to northern businesses, residents, and Indigenous governments.

Regarding specific sole source contracts, a total of $167,000, or 1.4 percent, was paid to a single contractor over a four-year term, from June 2019 to November 2022. The consultant was formerly an employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories whose experience was relied upon to build and coordinate working relationships between the parties involved.

The Taltson Hydro Expansion Project is being developed in partnership with the Akaitcho Dene First Nation, or ADFN, and Northwest Territories Metis Nation, or NWTMN. A key area of focus early in this project was the development of a guiding statement of principles and a Memorandum of Understanding to work together to advance the project. The success of a project of this scale hinges on collaboration and relationship building between the various parties at the table. Although it took some time to establish trust between the parties, this is a long-term project. An MOU was formally endorsed by the leadership of the ADFN and NWTMN at our first Taltson Expansion Steering Committee meeting which was June 2021. The consultant continued to support the MOU implementation until November 2022 and no further work is expected going forward.

Regarding the northern businesses, direct contracts have been awarded for services such as fixed-wing and rotary aircraft consulting. Thus far, contract work has been awarded within GNWT procurement guidelines, which includes guidance of the business incentive policy and adjustments for northern and local content on bids.

The reality of this project is that pre-feasibility work requires specialized and technical skills across a broad range of disciplines; accordingly, many technical aspects of this work are awarded to specialized southern contractors. We are seeing significant efforts by proponents to pull together teams that do include northern businesses wherever possible and expect northern spending to grow over time as we progress to a regulatory application and construction decision. This is good indication that the project is creating new opportunities for northern businesses, and the project will continue to prioritize the inclusion of northern businesses in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the contractor will resume work at the PCAR location this afternoon. The WSCC has reviewed the incident and has cleared us to proceed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So I do want to first talk about the traffic accident that happened at the Prohibition Creek. So I do want to say that no one was seriously injured at either incident. And we take health and safety very seriously, Mr. Speaker. So the department is undertaking an investigation at the contractor's site, including review of the contractor's health and safety plan as well as the traffic control plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, this is under investigation by the workers -- WSCC so it's really hard for me to comment at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.