Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just, I suppose, for the comfort of those people out there who know this electricity rate review is going on, I would like to ask the Premier if any of the recommendations considered are going to result in any increased power rates for any community in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am very interested in what becomes of all these reviews because, Mr. Speaker, in the community of Hay River resides the Power Corporation headquarters, which we value very greatly; the headquarters for Northland Utilities, which has been there for over 70 years; and, of course, the headquarters and offices of the Public Utilities Board, also located in Hay River. So this is something that is very important to me, but I’m sure very important to other communities and other people in the Northwest Territories as well.

Mr. Speaker, again, I ask the Premier, is there a precedent or a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with some of my colleagues’ talk about the cost of living today, I want to talk about power. This is something that’s been on the minds of many Northerners and this government in recent months, that’s for sure.

When knowledge of the unsolicited proposal came out, it sent the employees at NTPC into a state of wondering about their future. Mr. Premier came to Hay River and met with staff and management and communicated the GNWT plan as we were moving forward. Work is now proceeding on the electricity rate review as we attempt to wrap our thoughts around the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have often felt kind of conflicted on this whole issue of NTPC, because I am very interested about, and concerned about, the well-being and the valuable contribution of the folks at head office, being as most of them are either my constituents or Mr. Speaker’s constituents. At the same time, I am listening to the people who represent communities where people are literally burdened under the weight of the cost of this service. We have heard from the NTPC Review Panel. There isn’t a whole lot we can do to change the way things are operated at headquarters that would...

Mr. Speaker, when you look at Crown corporations that are owned by government, there is always some good reasons why that activity is carried on at arm’s length from the government. In the example of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, it had to do with that corporation’s ability to receive money from federal programming and so on. There were good reasons that you could articulate why it needed to be arm’s length from the government. Is there any such reasons why NTPC needs to be a Crown corporation at arm’s length from the control and supervision of this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I assume that the portables that were added on to Ecole Boreale to make room for more classroom space were intended as a temporary measure. So I would like to ask the Minister of Education if, in considering the expansion of the school to incorporate that additional classroom space, the gymnasium could be part of that ask and part of that negotiation and I’m also just wondering if the footprint for an expanded Ecole Boreale could be accommodated on its present site. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Ecole Boreale is a French first language school and, as such, when the original capital budget for that school was obtained, there was participation by Heritage Canada in conjunction with our government, and subsequently our government has invested more capital in that school.

Mr. Speaker, is there an opportunity to secure any funding for the gymnasium to any other sources than just to the normal capital planning process of the GNWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re going to beat our colleague here to recognizing his family. You have one of your constituents and I have one of mine too, our colleague, Mr. Beaulieu’s sister, Louise-Ann Larocque.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee would like to continue on with general comments with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and hopefully make some progress on the detail of that department. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, maybe my question was not clear enough, but what I would like to know -- and I didn’t hear this in the answer from the Minister -- is there an opportunity to secure additional capital funding through the federal government Heritage Canada for the expansion of the facilities at Ecole Boreale through federal dollars, or is it a GNWT allocation that will have to be identified for the adding of a gymnasium? Thank you.