Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister for those comments again. The Detah road, as the Minister mentioned, is actually an unfinished project because of lack of government funds, and I’m hoping we can find some. But it’s a prime example of the good work being done by Det’on Cho. I’m wondering if the Minister can outline some of the local and territorial economic benefits resulting from this negotiated contract, assuming that there’s some monitoring of those benefits.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In following up on my Member’s statement, my questions are for the Minister of Transportation. I want to note that the development of the Giant Mine never delivered economic benefits to the people of the Drygeese territory. It crippled the subsistence wealth of their traditional lands and left a legacy of poisons to deal with. If Giant were a new mine being developed today, an economic benefits agreement would certainly be in place as a first order.

Suppose that this mine were being developed today, based on his experience over the last 12 years of diamond and other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This House has debated and put in place a responsible policy that allows for negotiated contracts. It was created to “lead to benefits for businesses or residents which could not reasonably be expected to be achieved through competitive contracting, or contribute to the creation, growth and competitive capacity of Northwest Territories-based businesses.” This policy has regularly been applied in appropriate cases across the NWT, with major benefits accruing to our residents and businesses.

A couple of my colleagues have questioned the application of this policy for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to just follow that up by stating that I am aware that there are a number of local and regional corporations who have expressed an interest in participating with the Det’on Cho on this project. As part of the negotiations for establishing the contract, what steps is the department taking to ensure a full complement of local subcontractors are included in the Det’on Cho Giant bypass work?

Thanks to the Minister for those comments. As I’ve noted, some critics of this negotiated contract underway right now claim that we already have a full, competitive complement capable of this project. I don’t disagree with them on that point. Yet, as I said, YKDFN’s Det’on Cho Corporation is taking root today because that First Nations’ participation was never promoted when the mine was developed.

I’m wondering what are the Minister’s views on ensuring that Det’on Cho is enabled to join the ranks of our successful First Nations and other development corporations and finally get an opportunity...

The Negotiated Contracts Policy exists for good reasons, and I’m glad we’ve put it to good use here. If there are problems with the policy, let’s have a discussion, but let’s not wait until the policy happens to be applied in our own backyard to speak out on it.

I look forward to the successful completion of the contract negotiations and the flow of benefits to our local economy that will result. I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation.

Mr. Speaker, I do indeed appreciate the investigation of that metering by the Power Corporation. Unfortunately, it has set a purchase price at a ridiculously low price and will go nowhere until we establish a feed-in tariff price. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there to investigate this feed-in tariff and put one in place.

The smart grid and time of day pricing have proven to reduce costs and usually increase efficiency of energy systems. An example of that is putting down, taking off the peak power requirement that reduces energy efficiency in our systems to about 20 or 25 percent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of New Energy Initiatives, Mr. Bob McLeod. As mentioned in my Member’s statement earlier today, fossil fuels are failing us in both supply and price, and the trends indicate that those are only going to get worse more rapidly. In contrast, jurisdictions are switching to renewable energy and proving the naysayers wrong in every case, surpassing targets big time. Will the GNWT take steps to inform themselves of this trend and implement such policies here? Mahsi.

In contrast, jurisdictions where power rates are only 6 or 8 cents per kilowatt hour have required payments of 40 or 50 or 60 cents per kilowatt for wind, for solar, for biomass energy, and have turned their energy services around. Clearly, the potential for us to offer such prices for renewable energy and ultimately enjoy reduced costs is immediate. The annual GNWT subsidy for electricity is over $14 million, up 40 percent from 2009-10 to 2010-11 and rising. Why continue such silliness when alternatives are available?

We could choose to continue our headlong pursuit of an inefficient fossil...

I appreciate those remarks. Good to hear. I see early childhood development as the answer; one of the big answers to many of our issues in the health, education and the justice field, a huge opportunity. So we need to get these things in place. Ninety percent of what we know of the brain today has been learned in the last decade. We need to incorporate that. There are amazing relationships being discovered, and opportunities for savings and treating our people better. So will the Minister tell us when we will be getting this information and can we expect to see it in the business plans for the...