Jane Groenewegen

I’m very familiar with that time. I was on the original board of directors of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation before NCPC had even moved from Edmonton to Hay River. So I’m very familiar with the thinking at the time, and it was considered a great gain for the GNWT to acquire this asset. But, you know, times have kind of changed a bit now. Now we are looking at costs that are really quite a burden to the people, and we are quite consumed, as legislators, about the cost of living. I think it is time to re-examine the model that we have in place. Because if there is anything about...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Premier is responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Premier has just said, could be brought under the umbrella as a department of the Government of the Northwest Territories thus removing the need to have it as a regulated utility through the PUB, the whole cost of service way of trying to figure out rates that generate profits for this government. Is it possible that such a transition could take place without absolutely no downside to the establishment as it stands now, as a separate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just, I suppose, for the comfort of those people out there who know this electricity rate review is going on, I would like to ask the Premier if any of the recommendations considered are going to result in any increased power rates for any community in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am very interested in what becomes of all these reviews because, Mr. Speaker, in the community of Hay River resides the Power Corporation headquarters, which we value very greatly; the headquarters for Northland Utilities, which has been there for over 70 years; and, of course, the headquarters and offices of the Public Utilities Board, also located in Hay River. So this is something that is very important to me, but I’m sure very important to other communities and other people in the Northwest Territories as well.

Mr. Speaker, again, I ask the Premier, is there a precedent or a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with some of my colleagues’ talk about the cost of living today, I want to talk about power. This is something that’s been on the minds of many Northerners and this government in recent months, that’s for sure.

When knowledge of the unsolicited proposal came out, it sent the employees at NTPC into a state of wondering about their future. Mr. Premier came to Hay River and met with staff and management and communicated the GNWT plan as we were moving forward. Work is now proceeding on the electricity rate review as we attempt to wrap our thoughts around the...

Mr. Speaker, maybe my question was not clear enough, but what I would like to know -- and I didn’t hear this in the answer from the Minister -- is there an opportunity to secure additional capital funding through the federal government Heritage Canada for the expansion of the facilities at Ecole Boreale through federal dollars, or is it a GNWT allocation that will have to be identified for the adding of a gymnasium? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to my colleague Mr. Menicoche today talk about school and a gymnasium for Trout Lake, I had asked the Minister of Education not to make them wait long, because I think we had to listen to him speak in this House about the gymnasium for Nahanni Butte for about three or four years.

On the topic of gymnasiums, Mr. Speaker, we all know the value and the importance to children of physical activity, and in our remote and northern communities here, where it is cold much of the year and not everybody can participate in outdoor activities, a school gymnasium is a very...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Minister of Health and Social Services has indicated, the Mental Wellness Week is February 7th to 13th. Mr. Speaker, I was listening to the news this past week. I was very saddened to hear the report of the young mother in Millet, Alberta, that was going through a relationship breakup. In fact, they found her two children, her two little boys -- they showed a picture of them on the news -- and the two year old and the 10 month old were dead in her home. After that, she attempted to take her own life. Mr. Speaker, when I heard that story on the news, I thought to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I assume that the portables that were added on to Ecole Boreale to make room for more classroom space were intended as a temporary measure. So I would like to ask the Minister of Education if, in considering the expansion of the school to incorporate that additional classroom space, the gymnasium could be part of that ask and part of that negotiation and I’m also just wondering if the footprint for an expanded Ecole Boreale could be accommodated on its present site. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Ecole Boreale is a French first language school and, as such, when the original capital budget for that school was obtained, there was participation by Heritage Canada in conjunction with our government, and subsequently our government has invested more capital in that school.

Mr. Speaker, is there an opportunity to secure any funding for the gymnasium to any other sources than just to the normal capital planning process of the GNWT? Thank you.