Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Madam Chair. Okay. We've got to get more money into the Housing Corporation for new units. I don't know how I can say that more clearly. If it's pitched to the financial management board as forced growth, a new initiative, I don't care anymore. We need more money for housing, for new units, and for the O and M that needs to go along with that. Can the Minister make a commitment to go to the Financial Management Board and get more money for new units for the Housing Corporation? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Why are there no new units for residents of the Northwest Territories? It's all retrofits. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm just going to read one line, one line, from the most recent ruling that came out yesterday: "The Gwich'in Land and Water Board suggests that the GNWT is best placed to enforce its own legislation." That includes, this is me editorializing, the reindeer-grazing reserve. You cannot just unilaterally decide that you are going to change something that is designated for a certain purpose under a regulation and decide that you are going to use it for something else without changing the regulation itself. That is against the law, and we are breaking our own laws. Thanks...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Great, yes. I really appreciate it, because it's my understanding that I think we could get mini-hydro projects that each community could actually control and have a self-sufficient energy future. At the same cost of building this big transmission line, they could become self-sufficient and control their own energy future. That's the kind of future I'm interested in, Madam Chair. Of course, that would need to be done in consultation with the Tlicho Government and all of the communities.

I want to move over to the Inuvik wind turbine project. I know that the Gwich'in Land...

Thanks, Madam Chair. There was a lot of work done on mini-hydro for Whati using the Lac La Martre falls, very close to the community, and there was some preliminary work also done on mini-hydro for Gameti and Wekweeti, as well. As I understood from the information that I tabled in the last Assembly, you could probably do all three of those communities as mini-hydro for the same cost of this 60-kilometre over from Snare. Has the department looked at the relative costs of those three mini-hydro projects versus the Whati transmission line? Mahsi, Madam Chair.

Merci, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Minister. I'm not sure he actually understood what I was saying. We need long-term, continuous data sets, but I want to move on. I support the efforts of our staff to stay on top of the situation, but I am not convinced that the Transboundary Water Agreements are working as they should. Could the Minister tell us what lessons GNWT has learned from this experience and whether any changes will be made to the Transboundary Water Agreements? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm not sure that industry relief qualifies for the sort of exemptions that the Minister said, but I understand that it takes some time to have water quality samples analyzed and that, of course, once that analysis is done, we can better understand adverse impacts from upstream. I think some of those impacts may have compounded by high water levels that have been carrying additional sediments into the NWT. Can the Minister tell us whether the analysis of this summer's water samples has been finished and whether there are preliminary findings?

Merci, Madame le President. Pursuant to Rule 6(2), I move that committee continues sitting beyond the hour of daily adjournment to conclude the item under consideration. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. The Northwest Territories is gifted with abundant and generally clean fresh water, and we want to keep it that way. There is increasing upstream activity that is causing adverse effects on water from tar sands development and pulp mills. This is why GNWT negotiated a Transboundary Water Agreement with Alberta in March 2015. The agreement is a commitment to cooperate and provides for information sharing, joint management planning, notification of changes to monitoring, reporting, and dispute resolution.

It certainly came as a surprise when the Alberta government and...

Thanks. I think that is the best news I have had almost all year. Look, I think Members on this side want to support the Minister in getting more money for the Housing Corporation for new units, not just retrofits. If you can find some federal money that goes along with it, that is great, but we need more money from our own source, our own pot. I want to shift a little bit here now, Madam Chair, but that was indeed great news and a fantastic commitment from the Minister, and I don't want to underestimate that in any way.

When I look, though, on page 65 of the estimates, this is flow-through...