R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: how do we expect to pay for this expansion? I know that it might pay for itself over time, but the budget just came out yesterday. We are almost right up against the debt wall. You know, maybe at the beginning of this Assembly, this was viable, but our borrowing limit is almost maxed out. How does the Minister think that this is going to be paid for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That leads me to my second question. The Minister stated that there was an application for more federal funding. I think that in the last Assembly there was about $15 million spent on looking at expanding Taltson. I know we have another couple of million now. What is this federal ask, and how much of it would have to be GNWT dollars?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. She came back. I would like to recognize my constituent and my girlfriend, Ms. Chantel Lafferty. I would also like to welcome back, again, my aunt and my constituent, Ms. June Simpson. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister's Statement 13118(3), Sessional Statement, and Tabled Document 32218(3), Main Estimates, 20192020, and would like to report progress, and Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.

I just saw on the Minister's statement it said that the GNWT has put in a request for additional financial support, so I guess it is not an application per se. It is just a request.

I know that the Minister says that phase two is looking at an interprovincial connection and I have asked in this House before about talks with Saskatchewan and I understood that that was one of the customers they were looking at. Have there been any recent talks with Saskatchewan that the Minister can update us on?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding his earlier Minister's statement about Taltson Hydro Electricity Expansion. I recall that last year the MLA for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh questioned the government about why they weren't consulting with local Indigenous groups in the Fort Smith area regarding the expansion of Taltson. The answer was that there were no customers for the hydro power that could be generated by an expansion, so there was no point in consulting because there was no customer.

I see that there is money now for consultations, and I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank the good people at Landa Aviation for taking it upon themselves to help reduce Hay River's cost of living by offering affordable scheduled flights between Hay River and Yellowknife six days a week.

Prior to May 2018, when Landa Aviation began offering scheduled passenger flights, the cost of a return plane ticket between Hay River and Yellowknife was $1,200. As I stated before in this House, depending on when you booked, you could fly from Yellowknife to Beijing for less than it cost for the 25-minute flight over the...

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister's Statement 131-18(3), Sessional Statement, and Tabled Document 322-18(3), Main Estimates, 2019-2020, and would like to report progress, and Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

I will call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.