Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again let me take a look at what number of barges we have going in, when or if they were missed, and what we need to do to make sure that that doesn't happen again. I certainly can't promise that low water levels won't necessarily interrupt the barging season again but what we can do, and I know that this was something that I saw discussed from afar last time, was ensuring that the timing and the planning around when those barges arrive aligns in accordance with what the community needs and the timing of their resupply. So I certainly will commit to sitting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was in the House over the last Assembly when this issue came up. I want to start by acknowledging it is a challenge with a community that is isolated and not on the winter road resupply right now. The safety of residents as they travel remains top priority for everyone and building a winter road across Great Slave Lake certainly is not without some significant challenges. And while I acknowledge there was a road out in that region, as the Member noted, it would be an additional 100 kilometres to actually make that accessible and with no guarantees as to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be brief. Mr. Speaker, it maintains flexibility in how the revenues are used by the Government of the Northwest Territories, in short. So much as I had feared, the federal government, of course, once again changed their goalposts first back in April, which is what led to some lengthy discussions in this House in the last Assembly, and then again in the fall. And they changed those goalposts based on political priorities. They're set from Ottawa and by a different government.

By hanging on to the system by administering it ourselves here, we were able to do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a number of different conversations happening both between the Government of the Northwest Territories as well as the Northwest Territories Power Corporation along with the Tlicho government. I make note, firstly, that we were all at Roundup together recently, both the Department of Infrastructure and, I think for the first time ever, the CEO of the power corporation also has attended, as did representatives of the Tlicho government, including the grand chief, and it was a very good opportunity to, I think, begin to advance some of these discussions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Yukon and Nunavut are under, long before we did, many, many years ago created their systems with the federal system. At this point, we would come in under the federal system much like Alberta and Manitoba and others did when the last round of changes came through. So, and I wouldn't I mean, I can certainly provide a more detailed comparison between the Yukon system and ours and between Nunavut's system and ours. There's differences in terms of the rebates that go to individuals. There's differences in the rebates that go to businesses, including...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's quite a bit of work underway already with respect, as I've said, to different phases of the project to the extent that they're known. So, again, planning study that was completed with the TlichoKiewit partnership, that was completed already in 2023. So, again, that does suggest that there is a good working relationship in existence. There does need to be some further conversation with that partnership in order to determine what the next steps would be based on their planning study. But phase 1 is where we would get to a point of having a more shovel...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that I've got some notes. They're in a paragraph, and that's not going to be a good way for me to answer a question on the floor of the House trying to get numbers like this. But certainly I can give a general and I certainly don't want to miss out on the amount of money that's been secured. That's my bigger concern here. There's been money that's going back to 2022 that has already been that's already been secured. We are working with the Tlicho/Kiewit partnership. They are doing planning studies. And so at this point, the project is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No hesitancy required. Bringing down the cost of living is something that, I think as perhaps Minister of Finance as well as infrastructure, I'm certainly alive to and keen to see happen for our residents across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, that is a bigger, much bigger conversation. It's not only about corridors for roads, barges, ensuring our airlines can land in small communities. That is something top of mind for me. Perhaps focusing on my transportation portfolio, which I think is where the Member's at, I can say I'm at a transportation Ministers meeting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not aware of any studies or plans that would propose an allseason road to Lutselk'e. But I do want to address the other comment that there's been nothing in writing. I'm new to this portfolio, and I'll certainly commit to making sure that we do provide the information that I have available regarding what studies have been done, what efforts have been made, and some of the challenges that are faced so that there's a thorough understanding of that. But from that point on, we can hopefully get to a conversation about what is possible in these next four...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think people across Canada expressed frustration at the decision to exempt only one form of heating fuel and not others that are arguably greener. And, again, this is where I suggest that that's a question to take up with the federal government, not us. We find ourselves operating within that system. And where I'd like us to get to, Mr. Speaker, while we want to ensure that residents of the North, where our alternatives can sometimes be costly and few between, aren't facing an unnecessary carbon tax burden. We want to ensure that our offset payments...