Michael Miltenberger

Yes, that factor has been calculated in and we are going to be taking on the community of 3,000 as a rate base, added to our rate base that we never had before, so it’s anticipated that the cost of power, which now pays for that infrastructure, will continue to pay for that infrastructure

There are two numbers that are clearly known. One is the current cost of power per kilowatt in Hay River, which is 31 cents and in Fort Smith and Fort Resolution it’s 21 cents. At this point, what I can say in the House is that it is anticipated that we would be able to significantly close that gap that now exists between the cost of power in Hay River and those in the neighbouring communities. Thank you.

In point of fact, my understanding is that the authority for bidding on franchises is enabled in the legislation for the Cities, Towns and Villages Act. It comes under the purview of Municipal and Community Affairs, and the community of Hay River – and every community has the right in the Northwest Territories – chose to trigger that process on their own behalf after doing their own due diligence on what they thought would best meet their needs and help them deal with the high cost of living and the inequities between the power rates in the neighbourhood that they reside in in the South Slave...

This is a public process in Hay River and there is no guarantee that NTPC will be successful. We have to find out who else is going to submit bids. At the end of the day, it is a competitive process because Hay River is looking for the best bid possible because there is a 30 percent differential between the price of power in Hay River and the neighboring communities of Fort Smith and Fort Resolution.

In regards to reports, there have been a number of reports done, in 2009 and, previous to that, the Robertson Report. As well, we’ve had many discussions, we have had our own Energy Strategy, we’ve...

I understand the process is now open and will remain open until the end of June or the very first part of July. We anticipate that the Town of Hay River intends to move very quickly in terms of evaluating whoever submits bids and picking a successful proponent. Thank you.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was during the life of the 15th Assembly there was a renewal process, and at that point there was some talk of the Power Corporation putting forward a proposal for that franchise. But at the end of the day, the government of the day instructed the Power Corporation not to proceed.

I first think it’s important to make a note or a point for the edification of people listening, and that is that if we didn’t have the diamond mines we would be short about $1.5 billion a year out of gross domestic product, and I can tell you, if we had that big a hole in our economy that we would be in a far more difficult and bitter position than we would ever think by the loss of those types of activities.

We need to make sure we work with industry to have sustainable, balanced development. The Minister of ITI talked about that in his Minister’s statement today. We mustn’t forget that we...

I appreciate the fact, the government has always appreciated the fact that there are far more needs than there are resources. There are two issues we have, two critical issues. First is we have to make sure that our expenditures don’t outstrip our revenues, and that is going to be a real challenge as we move forward, given some of the cost pressures. Then we have to make sure that we have processes to look at how we’re going to make critical investments in economic infrastructure, infrastructure that will create conditions for economic development.

Clearly, there are going to be a whole host of...

I can assure the Member and the folks who are listening that we’re going to come up with a plan that balances out our interests with those of Lutselk’e for the small federal footprint. We have some northern tools that the Member is articulating in this House that could be used; some will need to be amended. The ability for permanent withdrawals is not clearly stated in some of the legislation. But as we work towards the final determination of the configuration of what is going to be in place in the Thaidene Nene area with the federal footprint and whatever complement of northern tools are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 51, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 5, 2014-2015, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.