Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, as was mentioned earlier in this government, the Member actually had put us in a room together with a number of folks who are in this space, and it came up that De Beers was looking at this, so we have the department has reached back out to them. I understand that while that may have fallen off the radar for De Beers, there's been some further conversations now with some of their folks. So as I said earlier, if there's a larger coalition able to look for Arctic grade not just winter grade and definitely not summer grade, but Arctic grade it may...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, there was discussion at an operational level with the chair of Arctic Energy Alliance. And, Madam Chair, I know this wasn't part of the question per se, but let me just walk back a little bit in saying that there's you know, we don't want to do things in bits and pieces. As a government, we want to be strategic, but being strategic does include things like even putting in the single EV charger that has to run on diesel for now, it still has a value. So I do see that. I don't want to I wouldn't want people to think that it's hopeless to go and replace...

Madam Chair, let me put that to the deputy minister, please.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm not sort of a technical expert, but I don't think it's going to take technical expertise to say yes. More satisfied is more efficient, more productive, you know, easier to recruit, because you want people who will want to go and work at a place that reflects those kind of values. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll see what the next question is.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been outreach to a number of different suppliers. There was an effort, in fact, to run a pilot as I alluded to in my last response. But in terms of exactly which suppliers they've reached out to, I don't have a list in front of me. I can say again, though, that the challenge was, firstly, not even being able to find any supplier. If there are new supplies available, we can certainly go back, make sure that we do have the latest information. I'm happy to commit to do that and to report back. Again, I know I have followed up with the department...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think there is still work happening. It's still in the budget. So I'm just trying to see if I have a detail on what the current I don't have detail in front of me on what the exact programs or projects might be for the coming year, but there is still money in the budget ongoing for academic research related to well, it would be related to the 2030 Energy Strategy. I can certainly get details. Or sorry, Madam Chair, I just want to make sure I'm looking at the right alternative. Is it the top line?

Oh, there we are. Sorry, Madam Chair. I had the wrong one here. Just...

Thank you, Madam Chair, I can. So one of the earliest amalgamations that is involved here is that of the human resources, which was previously out on its own and then joined in the Department of Finance, I think, right at around 2018. Information shared system services was the next, so that was which is now the office of the information chief information officer and now has grown further with by bringing TSC's folks from Infrastructure over to be all in one umbrella of information shared systems services, so information technology essentially, all under one umbrella but all under the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am happy to do this although I'm conscious that we are trying to be a bit more mindful of our time. The energy strategy is up for a renewal, and last summer some significant progress was made in terms of having, for example, a large forum of engagement and significant other opportunities for engagement over the summer of last year obviously with some challenges. There's work being done right now to draft up what that might look like. I know Members of the Assembly have had a significant amount of interest in this particular area. I think we are expecting...

Thank you, Madam Chair. No, Madam Chair, it's not. This is very much directly related to the fact that there's been significant challenges. I mean, low water being probably top of mind on this one. It's not a capital it's not related to capital. It's not related to the operations, really, of the organization. It was either that there's and I don't have the numbers top of mind. But there was a significant amount of diesel that was burned over this last while because of low water and with high fuel costs, we had a pretty unfortunate combination of needing more diesel and high cost of diesel...

Mr. Speaker, I recently had the opportunity to address the Northwest Territories Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists at their annual professional development symposium. The theme for this year's symposium was Building a Resilient North, which underscores a collective commitment to overcoming challenges and fostering innovative solutions for a sustainable future for residents. Today, I want to highlight the pivotal role that strategic infrastructure plays in securing the future prosperity of the Northwest Territories.

The strength of our economy and our future prosperity...