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NSMA sues over AiP TheNorthSlaveMtisAlliance is hopping mad its members are in danger of being frog- marched out of their inher- ent rights. See page 2. Ko Ke spoken word festival tours NWT The ve-stop Ko Ke Storytell- ing Festival tour starts in Yel- lowknife this weekend with a focus on amplifying the voices of the far North. See page 18. SUPER-EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING Big change to Northern climate change summit. See page 15. Bill Nye the anti-oil- sands guy Bill Nye paid a visit to Alber- tas oilsands recently and he didnt mince words on their environmental impact. See page 14. Is 20M enough for a new Hay River rec centre and arena The town needs a Caddy but will likely have to settle for a sedan when residents vote on a 20M plan for a new rec centre. See page 13. V IS IT W W W .N O R J.C A A national award winning independent newspaper serving northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories since 1977 1.00 September 8 2015 Vol. 39 No. 19 BY CRAIG GILBERT The territorial government on Wednesday made a powerful an- nouncement they say will stave off an energy rate hike but it was an uncomfortable deja-vu for at least one regular MLA. Premier Bob McLeod said the government will pony up almost 30 million for the Northwest Ter- ritories Power Corporation to help make up for a shortfall created by low water levels affecting the Snare and Bluesh hydro systems. The cash is meant to offset the cost of diesel fuel purchased between July 2015 and July 2016. Without this decision NTPC would have had to apply for a two- year rate rider that would have in- creased costs for all NWT power customers McLeod said in a press release. Our government doesnt believe it makes sense to pass these costsontoresidentsandhasdecided to cover them instead. He said the government would continue to look for long-term solutions including conservation efforts and new options for genera- tion and distribution. But Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny the only other lawmaker to attend the premiers press con- ference at the legislature Wednes- day afternoon said the government of the day has pulled out its credit card and bypassed the consensus governments due diligence for a second year to oat the NTPC. It reminded him of the 20 mil- lion the GNWT gave to the power corporation last year also without debate. Then as now the move lands regular MLAs in a lose- lose situation if they make noise about how the GNWT decided to spend that 29.7 million they be- come easy targets to be accused that this is a done deal. Were talking about due process and how this gov- ernment has to work. Dolynny said energy costs are the black hole question of the day for the NWT and that he plans to table a report critiquing the McLeod gov- ernmentsnancialtrackrecordusing empiricalperformancemeasuresand avoiding gut feelings and colourful language. HistorywilljudgeusastheAssem- bly that stretched the boundaries of borrowingbeyondanyotherAssem- bly he said. When the Mastercard gets maxed out comes the Amex ap- plication.Wecantcontinuetoborrow. NTPC data provided with the an- nouncement shows in 2014 the cor- poration relied on hydro for 75 per centofitsgenerationcomparedto22 per cent from diesel. A year later the mix was 61-34 hydro-to-diesel with smallamountscomingfromsolarand natural gas. In August 2015 water volume at the Snare intake was down almost half from where it was in 2013 from about 90000 cubic metres per sec- ond to just over 50000. See Politicians on page 7. MLA critical of latest GNWT hydro bailout Low ow at generation plants costs NTPC 30M in diesel On Monday Aug. 31 regular MLAs got word there was going to be a 22 million item related to power discussed during the upcom- ing session. Dolynny said some- how between then and the press conference the item grew to 27 million and then the 29.7 million announced Wednesday. of opposing any reduction in the cost of living. Bothmoveswerereectiveofparty politicswhichisalmostaviolationof our Financial Administration Act he said Thursday morning Sept. 3. This could have happened in the House and set up a debate but the messaging from the premier was PhotocourtesyofJillandJackshProductions Both moves were reective of party politics which is almost a violation of our Financial Administration Act. Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny Shooting on the northern lm The Sun At Midnight shifted to Fort McPherson last week after kicking off in Yellowknife at the end of August. Production on the movie is expected to last until mid-September. For more on the project head to page 19.