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PoliticsFinance6TuesdaySeptember242013WhereFortSmithRecreationCentreparkinglotWhenSaturdaySeptember2810amto4pmItemsacceptedoldfuelpaintsaerosolsengineoiluorescentbulbspesticidescleaningproductselectronicwastethermostats.Residentialcomposterswillalsobesoldatasubsidizedrate.Thisisintendedforresidentsonlynocommercialwaste.FormoreinformationcallGeraldEnnsat867920-8044orFortSmithtownofceat872-8400.HouseholdHazardousWasteandBackyardComposterSaleByMEAGANWOHLBERGResidentsfromaroundtheNorthwestTerritoriesareinvitedtojoininthediscussionofwhatshouldbedonewiththe65mil-lioninresourcerevenuestheterritorystandstogainfollowingthedevo-lutionstartdateofApr.12014duringthesecondroundoftravellingbudgetconsultations.FinanceMinisterMi-chaelMiltenbergerwillvisitsevencommunitiesfromOct.3throughNov.13togetfeedbackonthedepartmentsproposalforrevenueusage.Miltenbergerisputtingforwardaplanthatwouldseetheremaining75percentofpublicrevenue-afteraquarterofthetotalissharedwithAboriginalgovernments-brokendownwith5percentgoingtotheterritorysHeritageFundandtheremaindersplitbe-tweeninfrastructureanddebtrepayment.Whathedoesnotwanttoseeisresourcerevenuesgoingtowardprogramsandserviceswhichcanbecov-eredbytheother1.6billiontheterritorialgovernmenthastoworkwith.Wewanttokeeptheresourcerevenueroyaltyoutoftheprogramareassowecanavoidsomeofthemistakesmadeinotherjurisdictionswheretheoilmoneyflowsrightintogeneralrevenueandtheybudgetwiththehopethattheyrealwaysgoingtohavealotofithesaid.Miltenbergersaidtheriskofhavingadropintheresourcemarket-ashap-penedinAlbertalastyearleavingtheprovincewitha6-billionshortfall-makesittoorisky.Wewanttoavoidthat.WewanttolooktothesuccessfulcountrieslikeNorwayforexamplethathaveasovereignwealthfundthatsworthalmost700billion.Theyvecare-fullymanageditandkeptthemoneyoutoftheecon-omyhesaid.Theministersaidtheter-ritoryhasotherneedslikea3-billioninfrastructuredecitandwantstokeepitsAA-1creditrating.Andwedenitelywanttoputmoneyasideforthosewhocomeafterusourchil-drengrandchildrengreat-grandchildrenheadded.Wedontwanttospendeverythingwehavetoday.Hesaidtheengagementsessionswillprovideanop-portunitytoapprisethepub-liconwhatwasdonewiththelastbudgetandprovidetheplangoingforward.Wesaidclearlypartofourfiscalplanwasthefirsttwoyearsweretomaintainfiscaldisciplineandthelasttwoyearsweregoingtoadd50milliontothecapitalbudgettopickupabunchofunmetneedsprojectsthathavebeenwaitingthatarecriticalandweregoingtohonourthatcommitmenthesaid.Pluswelltalkaboutthedevolutionpieceaswell.Whilethepubliciswel-cometomakesuggestionsoninfrastructurespecif-icstheydlikefocusedonMiltenbergersaiditisnotaforumtoentertainpeopleswishlistsasthedepart-mentiswellawareofalonglistofinfrastructureneedsforeverycommunity.Westillhavethesamechallengestheeconomysstillfragilewevegottomanageourdebtverycare-fullywevegototherbigprojectsonthego...Itsthesamefocusaslasttimebeawaretheseareourchal-lengestheseareourre-strictionstheseareouropportunitiesandwehavewaymoreissuesandneedsthanwehaveresources.Wehavetocontinuetomakecarefulwellthoughtoutchoiceshesaid.Forthescheduleofmeet-ingsvisitwww.fin.gov.nt.caDialogue202013Dialogue2013.htmThe65-milliondollarquestionNWTresidentstohavewordonuseofresourcerevenuesByMARIACHURCHThenumberofpowerout-agesinYellowknifedropped45percentthisyearwithonlyninerecordedade-creasefrom17outagesthepreviousyearaccordingtoareportreleasedlastweekbytheNorthwestTerritoriesPowerCorp.NTPC.Wevemadesignicantprogresswith47percentfeweroutagesthisyearascomparedtolastyearbutwestillhaveworktodoEmanuelDaRosaNTPCpresidentandCEOsaidinapressrelease.DaRosapledgedlastyeartoimproveYellowknifespowerservicebyloweringoutagesby70percentoverthreeyears.IfsuccessfulthegoalwouldbringtheaveragenumberofoutagestolessthanveperYellow-knifecustomer.Thecurrentnationalaverageis2.5out-agespercustomer.EventhoughthisishigherthanthenationalaveragetheisolatedsysteminYel-lowknifeascomparedtotheinterconnectedsysteminthesouthmakesthisareason-abletargetfornow.Oncewegettherewecanreassessthecosttomakefurtherim-provementsDaRosasaid.Yellowknifesees45percentdropinpoweroutagesIndustryPowerAccordingtothereleasethecauseofarecentcity-wideblackoutinYellowknifewasanequipmentfailureatoneofNTPCsfourhydroplantsontheSnareRiver.Therstcustomersreceivedpoweragainafter11min-uteswiththefullsystembackonwithin45minutes.Reducingthefrequencyofblackoutsandincreas-ingrecoveryspeedarepartsofNTPCsthree-yearplan.Improvementswillin-cludefaultdetectionequip-mentupgradinggeneratorgovernorsontheSnaresys-temandrepairorupgradeofbirddeterrentdevices.Whilethepastyearprovedsuccessfulinreducingfaultsonthetransmissionsystembybirdandtreecontactsaswellasunknowncausestheincidentsofweatheraf-fectingthetransmissionlineincreasedslightlyDa-Rosasaid.Wewillcontinuetomakeimprovementsuntilwereachourgoalofveorlessser-viceinterruptionsperyearheconcluded.FilephotoEmanuelDaRosaNTPCpresidentandCEOplanstoseepoweroutagesintheNWTdecreased70percentby2015.PhotoMeaganWohlbergNWTFinanceMinisterMichaelMiltenbergerwillbevisitingcommunitiesforthesecondroundofbudgetconsultationsthisfall.