SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Jane Groenewegen, Hay River South MLA, congratulated Gov Gen Michaelle Jean for taking an interest in Northern issues, following her highly publicized tour of Nunavut.

In particular, Groenewegen wanted to lend her support after the firestorm of controversy that followed Jean's trip when she ate a seal heart in Rankin Inlet.

"Governor General Michaelle Jean showed respect to her host by participating and partaking with them in an age honoured tradition of sharing the rewards of the hunt and of the harvest, in this case the consumption of seal meat," Groenewegen said, as she wore a seal skin coat in the legislative assembly, May 27.

"I doubt if those being interviewed representing the views of lobby and special interest organizations, who protest the harvesting of animals for human sustenance and financial support, have any idea of what life is really like in the North."

More federal dollars

With federal funding pots abounding, Dave Ramsay, Kam Lake MLA, questioned what the government was doing to get projects under a $1 billion green infrastructure project fund and a $1.3 billion agriculture fund - following news the Yukon government got $71 million for its Mayo hydro facility enhancement.

"We had better get on with this and put our proposals in, find the money and try to leverage what dollars we have with the federal government's dollars so that we can get some projects started here in the Northwest Territories," he said, last Monday.

Premier Floyd Roland said the territorial government must match anything it would get from the government, adding the government is in the process of drafting a list of proposals to Ottawa.

New school in Trout Lake

Kevin Menicoche, Nahendeh MLA, said the one-room Charles Tsetso school in Trout Lake is laying derelict and abandoned, with classes now being held in the community centre.

"The community needs a building with classrooms where there can be some separation of grade levels to allow for different activities to be going on at once," he said, on May 27.

"To be poised for future growth, the community needs a new stand alone school."

Education minister Jackson Lafferty said there were 11 students in a building capable of holding 33, and added the department was looking into it.

Critical biomass

On May 27, David Krutko, Mackenzie Delta MLA, asked how biomass initiatives will factor in to the GNWT's alternative energy budget of $15 million per year over the next four years.

He recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Scandinavia, where he and Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley saw firsthand the role biomass systems play in that part of the world, which no longer heavily relies on fossil fuels for heating and electricity.

Krutko said he would like to see a secondary industry in wood pellet production, with all the opportunities to use the NWT's forests - whether remnants from forest fires, lumber from cutlines around communities or from a potential pipeline route - to start using wood chip systems.

"We have to be serious as a government, as Northerners, that we have to stop wastage of our resources in the Northwest Territories and use, reuse and find ways to reduce the cost of living in our communities by way of our energy costs and our dependence on fossil fuels," he said. Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger said the government is developing a biomass strategy.

Quote of the Week:

"I think I need to thank the people of Nahendeh for their hospitality during my tour there. A few more and I'm going to have to buy some bigger suits, because I think all we did was eat in every community."

-Robert McLeod, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, commenting on a recent tour of the region with Kevin Menicoche, Nahendeh MLA.