Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Granted the issue of power rates and how those rates are arrived at are a complicated matter, but I’d like to quote from unedited Hansard from yesterday in the House. I’m quoting Minister Miltenberger. “One of the big factors in Yellowknife and Hay River, plus a couple of small communities, is that there is another power distributor, NUL. While we provide and sell power at wholesale rates, the provider in these communities adds their own costs on top of that, which is why there is such a distinct difference...”

Mr. Miltenberger’s comments imply that there is a different...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to rise today to say what a pleasure it is to have Mr. David Hamilton back in the Chamber today. I was elected, as Mr. Miltenberger was, in 1995, and was greeted by a bigger than life personality that was around this institution at that time and certainly I don’t think you could describe his influence and his work in this Assembly simply as Clerk. Mr. Speaker, I just jotted down a few things. Today in P and P we talked about the team that worked on the building. I think the team was actually a team of one. I think that this building was, in fact, a vision and a...

I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. What is the wish of the committee? Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and a well-known keen champion of the protection of our environment, our land, our water, our resources, I’d like to ask the Minister if he is satisfied at this time with these approvals going forward, given the additional work, obviously, that still needs to be done. Thank you.

If I had to convey comfort to people who are concerned about this, is the Minister able to comment on the environmental review and assessment and approval process that is in place? Since this is something relatively new in our territory, is he able to comment on the effectiveness of the approval processes that are currently in place for this activity? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess the point I’m trying to make here today – and I guess I’ll just ask the Minister this one last question – is that it’s not really fair to imply that there is something untoward or unregulated about the rates that Northland Utilities… It’s like yesterday in the House there was, to me, an unfair comparison made between communities serviced by NTPC versus NUL.

I would just like the Minister to confirm, for the record, that these rates are fairly set, based on the cost of service, and regulated by the Public Utilities Board which this government oversees. Thank you...

On this community-by-community basis, the rates are set and the Public Utilities Board examines the cost of delivering that service and approves those rates. Thank you.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. Before the break the committee indicated that we were going to start with Bill 12. I’d like to ask Minister Jackson Lafferty at this time if he would like to deliver his opening remarks. Minister Lafferty.

Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I can go along with looking into this, but it sounds like a very, very costly thing and there are, maybe call me old-fashioned, but there’s a few words that are being used here by my colleagues that, kind of, you need trained educators to look after our babies from zero to three. I just have a mental picture of somebody going from the daycare to the hospital and taking the baby out of the nursery and taking it over to the daycare. I don’t know. What about moms or what about parents and dads and moms that want to stay home and look after their kids? When you...