Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. There are electricity generating systems based on biomass and renewables all over Europe. We’re learning now the Maritimes are doing it through wood gasification. The possibility in Fort Liard for geothermal, thanks to the private industry there in the community pushing it really hard. There’s even electricity generation from biomass in Senegal, but where is the priority listed in the Biomass Strategy? I think it’s item number 12 or the item for 2012, this generation of mine heat and power in a community in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of the Environment and again in follow-up to my Member’s statement earlier today. I noted the impact of increasing energy costs on the cost of living and our vulnerability to these costs is increasing, an anticipated jump in the cost of living as electricity rates soar almost 30 percent in the next few years, despite the injection of $65 million.

Why does the government, that claims a commitment to fiscal prudence, not spend money for renewables now to stop the hemorrhage of tax money and save our citizens from rocketing energy costs...

Thanks to the Minister. I guess I would ask the Minister to commit to investigating that because, obviously, if the rate has gone from 48 to 58 cents, that is not a 6 percent increase and neither is it a 15 percent increase. So I hope the Minister will seek the truth on that.

The Safe Advantage program is meant to be self-funded and independent from the claims budget. It’s a separate budget. However, my understanding is that penalties income is less than rewards paid out. There’s also rewards paid out, not just penalties in the Safe Advantage program. That’s resulting in a deficit. We’re paying...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission in follow-up to my statement. MLAs were informed in August of an average 15 percent-plus increase in employee assessment rates. Meanwhile we have a Safe Advantage Program, which is supposed to improve rates of safety performance, yet the rates are skyrocketing. Why are the rates going up? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I totally support the role and authority of the Speaker in this House, that’s yourself. If any of my remarks last week brought that into question, I apologize. Mahsi.

In most of our communities there is no private market for housing. This is a reality. We can say that if a household makes over a certain amount of money, they should go to the private market to build, but we know that’s not happening. In large part, that’s due to the basic lack of local capacity to construct housing. Again, reality.

Can the Minister say how this lack of local private capacity issue is considered in the equation of setting eligibility levels and whether this is under review?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of the NWT Housing Corporation. I was asking the Minister questions last week regarding the large number of home ownership units remaining vacant because people don’t fit program criteria. At my constituency meeting in Detah, I was told one applicant was turned down because their income exceeded the $77,000 income ceiling for program eligibility. That seems to lack realism. Suppose a household made $80,000, would they be any more able to buy a home in the private market in Detah? Some flexibility obviously is needed here.

The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister knows full well that environmental remediation is a topic of the devolution negotiations. Out of the demolition of the roaster, possibly the most lethally toxic building in all of Canada, the adjoining stack contains 14 tonnes of arsenic trioxide that’s permeated with arsenic asbestos and other hazards. No news release, no media briefing, no explanatory advertising, no community information meetings, no attempts to inform the public and allay concerns for human health and environmental safety in this announcement. They just don’t learn.

When will this...

The Minister, obviously, isn’t addressing the questions here. There has certainly been debate for many, many years. The public has had a hard time and eventually got these hearings and made their views known. Now, as a government, we should be recognizing those. This statement doesn’t.

Again, I’ve made the point in past statements that it would, almost certainly, if it was a new mine, be governed by a legally binding environmental management agreement such as we see for the diamond mines, transboundary water agreements, and so on. The Giant Mine Project is far from new. It’s a toxic legacy of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize the students taking the course on Canadian Social Welfare Policy, Kelly and Jacq. I would also like to recognize the instructor Susan Fitzpatrick, a resident of Weledeh.