Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So planned work for 2026-2027 includes advancing to the regulatory phase which would include being ready for the beginning or the initiation of an environmental assessment process, also continuing, and I hope concluding, commercial partnership discussions amongst the Indigenous partners of this MOU group. And, Mr. Chair, also importantly, advancing -- and I think maybe not concluding but advancing to a real state of readiness, the discussions and work to deal with the legacy impacts for the existing hydro facility. Thank you.

If I could send that to the assistant deputy minister, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the state of this project is one where it had a fair bit done in terms of one proposed route. There's of course -- I shouldn't say of course, there are multiple -- there has been multiple work done on different routes ultimately over time on this project as well. We were ready to move forward with one particular route but have dialed that back a little bit in order to actually have what will hopefully be a better -- and going to the earlier comment, a better project description at the end of the day that is supported by the traditional landholders and the landholders...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I would also like to know why it has taken perhaps some of the time that it has. I can give you only some of the history. Obviously, I've had the opportunity to work on this project only in a focused way in the last couple of years since assuming this role, and particularly in the last year.

My quick assessment on the history would be going back to roughly 2013-2014 when this was first initiated in a formal environmental assessment capacity, or in a more concerted capacity. I think the project's been generally spoken about even longer than that, but it was...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, Mr. Chair, this too has a bit of complication in that there's more than one utility involved. There is, right now, an existing line between Hay River and Enterprise that does provide hydro power from Taltson, which is NTP asset, into the Naka distribution system in the community of Enterprise. And in terms of what, whether or not to go single phase to three phase, unfortunately, Mr. Chair, although NTPC provides the power, the distribution decisions about what kind of power or how it is –- how it exists essentially within the community is one that will rest with Naka...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left, I have Kim Wickens, assistant deputy minister for energy, strategic infrastructure, and supply chains. And on my right, Miranda Bass, the director of corporate services.

Oh, sorry, Mr. Chair. It is in the -- it's in the capital budget, and so that's why -- yeah, I was thinking it's not showing up on this budget, which is our operations, but there is an amount budgeted for capital for the coming year. So we were just able to pull it up over here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, with respect to specific outages, there is this process I've already described. It is formally done but with respect to capital planning, there is a capital planning process that does take place within NTPC in terms of the staff who are involved with outage investigation and reviews but also involved in terms of wanting to deliver upon their mandate as an organization. Anything that is over 5 million, which for a lot of more major investments, certainly would be. That also gets reviewed by the public utilities board. And, of course, I will just...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I couldn't agree more, and I spend an awful lot of time wondering and worrying what has happened to our energy systems and why we find ourselves in the situation that we are in. Without finding customers who are not residential customers and who are large-scale customers, it is going to be very difficult to meaningfully and sustainably bring down the cost of power other than through subsidies from the government, which really just takes away resources from the government that could be spent on other programs and services and/or obviously requires us to, you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I think I will be more succinct and just say this is a good opportunity for us to provide this response in writing. There are training opportunities through ITI, ECE, perhaps through MACA, NWTAC, and, again, I won't have all of those at my fingertips here, and I want to do my best to make sure we provide that information. It's important, and there are opportunities available in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.