Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, once again it is not clear to me what critical research may mean. There are things we’re doing in our planning with departments, with Cabinet, across the board looking at the fiscal realities, program needs, living within our means. There has been work going on basically non-stop, and that work will continue. In due course we will be coming forward in the next number of weeks with our business plan, and this February we’ll come forward with the results of all the work with the budget.

Mr. Speaker, it is not clear to me if the Member is talking about government jobs, private sector jobs or just any job in general. We know there is an implication to transfer payments if people leave the North. We know that if there are layoffs in the civil service for whatever reason, there’s a ripple effect in that area as well. There’s been work done over the years in terms of the government — the plan we are taking with reductions both last year and as proposed for this coming year. But we’re very sensitive to the issue of having a negative impact on the private sector, given all that is...

How it’s brought in may vary, but the fundamental point is the one that the Member has indicated: the role of the elders, the handing down from generation to generation of traditional knowledge. That will be built in department by department across government. It will all be ready for review as we come forward into the business planning process here in the next number of weeks.

Mr. Speaker, I can give three specific examples. The water strategy we’re working on for the Government of the Northwest Territories has built in as a key component the issue of traditional knowledge as it pertains to water: the decisions made with water, the natural capital and how it fits in with western science.

With things like transportation, for example, I’ve always heard the example of the Trout Lake Airport, where we didn’t listen closely enough to the knowledge of the people on the ground. The airport was located the wrong way.

I remember working with the Member in Health and Social...

Better than that, Mr. Speaker; we’re basically, as a government, reaching out to the Members to say, “Let’s engage together to look at this very complex, difficult subject, in terms of the redesign, the structures” — the very issues that the Members have identified as problematic. The opportunity is here. The work is underway. We’re looking at doing a lot of things in the next number of months that are going to be fundamental in terms of the changes they could bring. Collectively, we could do a very good job of this.

Mr. Speaker, the 700 kilowatts is an average consumption figure, and most families across the North are able to live with that.

As Canadians, as Northerners we add more and more power using applications and appliances that drive up our own costs. We have things like vampires that just keep running 24 hours a day, waiting quietly to be called into use; we keep adding to our power consumption.

The issue is, is it more or is it conservation? The Yukon, I understand, has 1,000 kilowatts; we have 700. That’s an issue of debate. The commercial subsidy is another one that’s an issue of debate as well.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents: NWT 2008 Forest Fire Season Report; Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008; Public Accounts of the Government of the Northwest Territories Interim Report for the Year Ended March 31, 2008; and the 2007–2008 54th Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Liquor Commission & Liquor Licensing Board.

Document 1-16(3), Northwest Territories 2008 Forest Fire Season, tabled.

Document 2-16(3), Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000 for the Period April 1, 2008 to August 31, 2008...

It has significant weight. I point the Member once again to the business planning process, where that issue will be clearly articulated. There will be an opportunity to talk and review with every department as they review their business plan with the appropriate committee about traditional knowledge and how it’s going to be implemented in those various departments. It’s a cross government initiative. The commitment is to have this once and for all put into practice within the life of the next business planning cycle.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of traditional knowledge is an important priority for the Government of the Northwest Territories. ENR has continued to work as the lead department with other departments to advance this so that government-wide it’s ready and applicable. We will be speaking to this in the coming weeks as we move forward with the business plan. The commitment will be that within the course of the next round of business plans we will have a government-wide traditional knowledge strategy that is implemented across government.

The Premier has indicated today and it’s been mentioned in the past that we have an opportunity with the work that’s occurred and underway to look at the regulation, the generation and the distribution of power in the Northwest Territories: the subsidies, the differential rate zones that are currently in place, the structure of the Power Corporation. Those are all subjects that are on the table for discussion as we look at dealing with the cost of energy, the cost to the small communities, sustainable communities, conserving energy and greenhouse gas emissions. All those things are now here...