Wally Schumann

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My recollection on the kilometre 4 windbreak was that, in discussions with the Gwich'in Tribal Council, they asked us to take this down, but I would have to follow up with the department if there have been in any more discussions with the GTC and see if they want us to replace this, or what the procedure is going to be moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories made a mandate commitment during this Legislative Assembly to continue to develop and advance initiatives to displace diesel generation in the Northwest Territories, including advancing the Taltson Hydroelectricity Expansion project.

With the Department of Infrastructure at the helm, the Government of the Northwest Territories has continued to work with the federal and Indigenous governments, provinces, territories, and Northwest Territories residents to promote a cleaner, more reliable energy supply in rural and remote communities...

I believe that the department has not talked to Saskatchewan lately, as we have changed our refocus on joining the North/South Slave grids at the present application.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have clearly laid out in my Minister's statement today, we had two parts to this. We were going to clearly have a look at the regulatory process, the environmental process, the engineering around this thing, and then the Aboriginal participation on it. They need to build a business case on that. That will be some of the ongoing work that we will be working on, and hopefully, in the coming months, as I said in my Minister's statement, with more federal funding to help us support this, we will be able to look at all of those aspects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That's why I've actually asked Jeff to go talk to our energy division to have a look at what's possible. I'm not saying we're not going to do it. The whole idea of our action plan and our 2030 Energy Strategy is we have a three-year action plan, and we know technology is going to change significantly over the next 10 years on how we're going to address the greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the Northwest Territories, and Jeff has a great idea. I've asked him to have a serious chat with our department, and when I get the feedback from that, we could seriously have a look at this thing as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I have. I've actually had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Jeff Philipp and Mr. Cadwell, I believe, and he discussed his idea with me at great length here about two weeks ago.

The development of the approved diamond manufacturer application process is a lengthy collaborative process. ITI has determined that discussions with the interested manufacturers and brokers are most effective when changes to the DPF are represented in a manner that clearly outlines the department's new amendment in investments requirements. This methodology allows the manufacturer to better understand the environment and the key investment drivers. Following these preliminary discussions, ITI has shared the matrix with others, and relayed the information to recent interested parties. I can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have spoken in this House many times, the lack of infrastructure is holding back some of the economic opportunities for the Northwest Territories. This particular road that the Member is talking about is an interesting concept, but this government has identified three strategic corridors in our mandate, and that's what we continue to keep our priorities on.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 417-18(3): Supporting Small Business in Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would have to get that level of detail from the department, but to clarify on my other statement, when we're doing forecasting of royalties and revenues from these mining companies, particularly in their very first years of operation, there are tax implications that they have with the federal government that they get to write off a number of these costs. It takes a while to put these mines in a situation where they are profitable versus what they are allowed to write off in their taxes.

I can look at what the detail we have around the NICO mine and see what their projection is for that...