Rylund Johnson

Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. That is the answer I was looking for, where the 25-percent dollars come from. They ultimately come from NTPC, and in theory, NTPC has to get all of its money through rates. Do we have any information of -- there is quite a lot of infrastructure in here. NTPC is clearly spending money. They need to be spending that money. Do they have plans to go to the public utility board for a rate increase? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question is: of this $167 million here, I notice there is a lot of federal funding and a lot of 75-cent dollars, but of that total figure, how much of this is federal money? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If we look at our asset infrastructure, we get that $465 million deficit. Then, if we looked at our roads, I am sure it's another billion. If we look at our airports, it's probably more. Then, I think, if we looked at the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, it would probably be the most terrifying of all of them. I see in here we have a number of hydro projects. We have a number of new kind of Taltson pre-expansion, Bluefish Hydro Upgrade. I am just looking for someone to explain to me the relationship between us spending infrastructure dollars for the Power...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the "Terms of Reference - Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just have the Minister confirm, in what we're sending to environmental assessment and the road to Lockhart Lake will hydro lines or power lines be included at that at all? Is that part of this plan? Thank you, Madam Chair.

During our pandemic response, a number of SEED COVID-19 guidelines were released, and I want to thank the department for that work. They said, "We are going to be flexible; we are going to be quick and adaptive." I think they were great guidelines. However, underlying this was still the SEED application policy, which has a market disruption clause saying, essentially, "We will not fund businesses if they will disrupt the market." In my experience, there has been no consistency in application of this, and I do not really think it's the goal. By not disrupting the market, we are not increasing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Part of my concern with this entire project is that, I think in 2001, there was a business case. There has been years of talking about this, and it made probably complete sense when the diamond mines were in full operation. It would have saved them millions of dollars in not building the ice road every year. I am concerned that even if we built phase 1, which doesn't get us to the diamond mines, by the time we actually get phase 2 built, we're into 2027 would be my guess at the earliest. Most of those mines are ending the life of their operation.

There is kind of this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier, I spoke about the importance of supporting our entrepreneurs, and one of the best ways we do that presently is through our SEED program through ITI. My question for the Minister of ITI is: can we top up the SEED program funding this year to make sure that no applications are denied? This could be central to our economic recovery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand, yes, there are the multiple phases. First, we are going to Lockhart. Then, we are going to go to Lac De Gras. Then, we're going to maybe go to Nunavut. Then, maybe Nunavut's going to go to the ocean, and then, maybe they're going to build a port. I understand there are multiple steps. My question is: the $40 million we got, are we going to environmental assessment on just to Lockhart Lake, just that first step of construction, or what are we bringing to environmental assessment? We had this problem with the Mackenzie Valley Highway, but we proposed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT regularly has one of the highest GDPs per capita in Canada, and we would regularly be in the top 10 in the world. No doubt that impressive figure has helped many of our residents get ahead and has helped this government fund many life-saving services. However, sadly, with many of our diamond mines facing closure and the economic recession of COVID-19, that economic prosperity is likely to diminish. To be honest, Mr. Speaker, there is only so much we politicians can do about that. The further we head up the economic ladder, the less ability we have as a...