Bob McLeod

We are still in the process of finalizing attendance and we’ll give him the proper accounting in due course. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That is our objective and we want to get more money in Northerners’ pockets. We’re always being very vigilant in this area as well as looking in other areas such as reducing energy costs, so the Energy Charrette, we expect, will go a long ways to that end as well.

The tax collection agreement between the Northwest Territories and Canada requires that both jurisdictions use the same definition of taxable income. A northern resident deduction increase would reduce federal and territorial personal income tax revenue. In our forensic review, the 2008 increase in the northern resident deduction raised the maximum deduction to $6,022.50. At the highest combined federal and territorial tax rate of 43.5 percent, the $547.50 increase would provide annual savings of $235 for tax filers claiming the maximum $6,022.50. The Government of the Northwest Territories’...

The Member seems to be opposed to the fact that we assisted all of the clientele that use energy to the tune of $20 million and we’re hearing people are leaving the North because of that, and I’m very prepared to adhere to the principles and I gather that the Member is as well. So, thank you.

We have a protocol that we developed amongst all of us in this Legislative Assembly and we conformed to the protocol measures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, it would be cheapest to barge or buy it on the offshore and bring it in by tanker and deliver it by barge to the communities. Obviously, if you truck, the more times you handle the molecules, the more expensive it is. We also, in a large part of the communities, can only bring it in once a year. Thank you.

I think it’s fortuitous that our Finance Minister is starting his round of budget consultations so he can hear directly from the people. I think going back to, I guess, the old days, if I can use that terminology, where everybody was independent. They went out and got their own country food. They cut their own wood. It was a full-time job making sure they had food on the table. They could grow their vegetables, they’d set nets to catch fish, they’d go do their fall fishery and so on. That was the only way that they could afford to live in those communities, because nobody had power and nobody...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been looking at finding ways to reduce the cost of living for a long time. There are no silver bullets in doing that. The biggest cost for the average homeowner or family is cost of energy, so we think an Energy Charrette will help us find a way to do exactly what the Member is suggesting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are looking at both, Mr. Speaker. Short-term, what can we do in terms of conservation and so-called low-hanging fruit and also the longer term approach to power generation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we’ve said several times, the Energy Charrette is to move us away from transmission to generation and dealing with the potential of having to live with low water going forward. So we expect to see the outcomes that will show us how to go forward in terms of empowering energy users, so that we can help find a way to become more independent in power generation and also to find cheaper ways of producing power. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.