Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments of the Premier. Premier, and I crystallize what I hope I made clear yesterday, it’s the frontend thinking that hasn’t been done. We’ve jumped right into this project instead of thinking about what we really need to do in the long term. The GNWT is a majority shareholder of the NWT hydro and Energy corporations and yet based on the response to earlier questions from last fall, the GNWT has never issued specific direction to guide NWT hydro corporation operations and hasn’t given specific direction to the NTPC since 2002. Can the Premier explain...

Thank you. Last week we read that the Power Corporation chair dismissed this government’s aspirations to attract Avalon Minerals secondary processing with a competitive NWT electricity source, such as the Taltson. The Premier promised that the corporation would eat those words, but it’s clear to see this corporation thinks it’s a law unto itself. Will this Minister direct that the Energy Corporation’s chair appear before standing committee to report on his strategic plan? Thank you.

Our executive must make a much greater commitment to the principles and practice of consensus government. I spend too much time calling this government to task for its habits of unilateral action, as we all do, and then trying to clean up the mess later. Work with us and we will work with you. It can’t, it obviously doesn’t, work any other way.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Tabled Document 4-16(5) has been tabled in this House;

AND WHEREAS the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project requires detailed consideration;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Tabled Document 4-16(5), Executive Summary of the Report of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m sure it will be profitable to our partners. What I’m talking about is public interest. So, yes, I would like the Premier to commit to a re-examination of the more costly alternatives, but the one that actually goes forward with the public interest addresses multiple goals rather than services a single provider that we hope is going to be there long enough to help pay for the system and put it around the west side where we know there are permanent customers waiting to use that power in a responsible way over the long haul. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There is still no real plan in place and what have we got to show for the work that’s been done so far? The Hydro Corporation has promised feasibility, analysis and design for a potential electrical grid. Where is that? What is the status of its development? Why is this majority shareholder permitting its corporation to concoct multimillion dollar schemes without a business plan for the development of our electrical system?

So, Mr. Speaker, we’ve talked about hydro strategies and so on, but we have never seen any work come forward. When we have asked questions, it’s been written off out of hand...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do not need another Deh Cho Bridge financial boondoggle, yet we have already sunk more than $13 million in public money into the Taltson Hydro Project. I want to know how the public interest is being represented in the controversial and ephemeral proposed routing of the Taltson hydro transmission line to serve a single customer goal: the diamond mines. Where is the strategic thinking?

Restricting a transmission line to the east side of the lake may serve our project partners in their search for returns, but I don’t see a serious consideration of public...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5 on the Order Paper.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by recognizing the commitment made by the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, which I very much appreciated and encouraged me to get this motion going with the good support of my colleague Mr. Yakeleya.

In summary, this motion is all about controlling the high cost of living. It’s about building strong minds and bodies. All of this while being environmentally responsible. What it takes is a small, low-cost investment for returns on all these fronts: social, economical, and environmental.

So I want to thank everybody for their support and...

WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has recently expanded the NWT Beverage Container Program to now include milk and milk substitutes and liquid milk and milk substitutes product containers;

AND WHEREAS Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly have identified a vision and goals for the Northwest Territories that references healthy, educated people with a focus on prevention by promoting healthy choices and lifestyles;

AND WHEREAS the NWT Food Guide clearly identifies the need for children and adolescents to consume up to four servings of milk or milk substitutes each day to aid...