Natural Resources committee  Absolutely. It's to shut them down.

Natural Resources committee  We would build the hydro project to match the requirements of the mine plus the city. For Iqaluit we're looking at 30 megawatts.

Natural Resources committee  We carried out a study near Iqaluit specifically, given that it's our best chance of displacing the largest amount of CO2 in fossil fuel use. We looked at 14 different sites around that area. We've identified, on a cost basis, the best location for us in terms of the infrastructure.

Natural Resources committee  That's a project for which we've completed the environmental baseline studies and pre-feasibility study, near Iqaluit. That's the one we are attempting to develop on our own, without a synergistic relationship with the mine. In order to complete the feasibility study, which includes the geo-technical engineering design and the regulatory process, we're looking at $8 million.

Natural Resources committee  I would strongly recommend and support moving energy infrastructure projects in the north outside of the debt cap of the Government of Nunavut, which is looking at the needs of Nunavut from the perspective of the hospitals and schools. Those will always take a higher priority over building a hydro project to feed a mine and two communities.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly, they're the loan shareholder for Qulliq Energy Corporation. If go to them and say that we have an excellent opportunity for a hydro project with a mine and ask them if we can do it, their response is, “It's not within our debt cap. Let's go to the federal government to see if we can do something with it.”

Natural Resources committee  I don't look at diesel as being the most economical method. A better alternative, from our perspective, is hydro. We've had discussions with several mining groups that are looking at mine development. We've identified the areas with hydro potential within the vicinity of the mine that potentially give us the ability, if we're able to go through the regulatory process and approval process concurrently with them—

Natural Resources committee  Do you mean as Qulliq Energy, in terms of our being able to develop hydro?

Natural Resources committee  As I referenced in my presentation, our ability to borrow for a capital project, a hydro project, is limited by the debt cap of the Government of Nunavut, which is $400 million. And they're utilizing their whole budget just for the infrastructure needs of the communities within Nunavut, which are short.

Natural Resources committee  I certainly can. Thank you for the question. Just to put things in perspective, I've been working with Northwest Territories Power Corp., Nunavut Power Corp., and now Qulliq Energy for 17 years. I came out of hydro before that, spending some six or seven years with hydro. During my tenure with those three companies—they're all in the same location—we attempted to install wind on several occasions, largely through funding we received outside of the core funding for the corporation.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, committee members and Mr. Chair. I'm pleased to be here today to speak with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources. I thank you for the invitation. My opening comments today will give you some background on Qulliq Energy Corporation as well as our involvement in energy resource development in Nunavut.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We had high-speed Internet before the Government of Nunavut put it in. As a utility, we operate our own satellite system on a negotiated bandwidth through Telesat for our core regional office and our head office. We rely heavily on the Internet in terms of training and development and having online materials accessible and available for our employees.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the opportunity. I indicated earlier with the trades that our apprentices typically have to head south. We're hoping to have at least the first or second block now in Rankin Inlet, in the trade school that's opening there. But historically we've sent them all south.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In terms of Qulliq Energy, we typically are asked to pay under the same normal terms, as net 30 days of whatever we have negotiated. So we have to purchase in advance because of the short construction season and because of the resupply aspects. So we'll purchase and pay for and not receive a product until eight months later because it's not coming up until that resupply.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's just from the perspective that it may be the first sealift resupply ship that's going to get in.