Michael Miltenberger

The Member is getting far, far ahead of anything that may even be considered to happen here. There was a general request about why doesn’t the government take an equity position and will you come forward with a paper that outlines what’s possible in terms of even considering it or being capable to afford it. We’re going to look at that. We’re nowhere near any time of consideration at the level of detail that the Member is suggesting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a number of points for discussion here. I believe one of the issues with collective bargaining is -- and we have had this discussion before -- if we put the money in the budget when we are going to negotiations, it tends to be a giveaway as was the concern with capital projects, which is why, when we put out the information, we don’t have the dollar figure in, so that it is not…People don’t know exactly the amount in the budget and they tailor their bids to the amount.

The other issue is, yes, the departments have estimates, but the practice has been in these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re not committing to look at taking an equity position in anything. I’ve committed to bring forward a paper that would lay out some of the considerations if we were going to look at that, some of the challenges, the lack of funds, what kind of…(inaudible)…building you would have and those type of very basic, fundamental issues before we would even think of being able to try to move forward on any project. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, if we are looking at the total $10 million, I looked on the list. There is nothing specifically earmarked for funding to health boards except the mammography in Hay River. The rest of the costs are for physician services in the Northwest Territories or outside of the Northwest Territories. There is supp health or children in care. Thank you.

Am I willing to do that and will I do it are two different questions.

---Laughter

I will say yes to both of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think there’s a fundamental agreement that subsidies in the long term are not sustainable and not the goal of any operation like ours. But the reality is until we can make the cost of power affordable in the communities, we’ve embarked on the Territorial Power Support Program and in fact we also have $9 million in for a commercial subsidy to try to lower the cost of power and hopefully the food basket in communities. It is a cost, but for all of us that are on hydro, it’s something that we take for granted. The other thing that people on hydro never have to worry...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We haven’t had any discussions about taking an equity position in any major projects mainly because of fiscal constraints we experience as a government trying to look at the needs to run programs, looking at our revenues, looking at our expenditures and try to keep things affordable with our relatively modest borrowing limit that is already almost half subscribed to. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the intent of the Biomass Strategy is to do a number of things. One of the key areas we are interested in, of course, is lowering the cost of living in the small communities. We’re looking at heating; generation and distribution of electricity are two main areas. We are of the opinion that there is great potential and there is technology that is currently in existence. We know that the Member’s community of Jean Marie River has been very active in this area. We are very interested, should the budget be approved, to move forward to find a smaller community that could be used as a...

Mr. Speaker, I will make a commitment on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of MACA, that he would be looking at how this money would flow, working with the City of Yellowknife to make sure that we can access each and every one of these pots even though they may be project-based or would have to compete with other communities and provinces from across the country. Yes, we will make sure that we work with the City of Yellowknife to see what is possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are still waiting for the detail of how these many pots of money are going to roll out. Some are clearer than others. The Building Canada Fund, for example, is an existing program where we’re compressing the time frame. This Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, along with their Green Fund and a host of other smaller pots of money that we may be eligible for, we’re still awaiting the detail to see what’s possible for us in terms of the conditions and criteria, how they apply to us as a Territory and how they may possibly apply to municipalities.