Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, the PUB has already clearly stated in answers to the questions in the past with respect to the types of rate structures that are in place in the Northwest Territories, that they are not in the business of social engineering when it comes to power rates; they are interested in the economic cost of producing power. If the Government of the Northwest Territories, through our policies as the shareholder in the Power Corporation, want to affect rates through our Territorial Support Subsidy Program, that’s entirely up to us. We take the dividends in the Power Corporation, we finance the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have follow-up questions to my previous questions about the various reviews that are being undertaken with respect to power in the Northwest Territories. In follow-up to my colleague Mr. Hawkins’ questions and his reference to secret handshakes and stuff like that, just because ATCO put an unsolicited proposal on the table, I don’t think they should get beat up in this Assembly. They are a company, the founders of whom I know well and they are I think a very much to be respected and admired company from what they have been able to do in the private sector. I just want...

Mr. Speaker, in fact, the people of the Northwest Territories have very little ability, except through conservation, to affect the rates that they are going to pay. I’m not really sure what the going and listening to people in all the communities...We know what they’re going to say. They’re going to say that the cost of energy in their community is too high and it’s our job as a government to figure out a way that we can offset that.

Maybe we need to look at our Territorial Power Subsidy Program. Maybe we need to look at energy conservation measures. But to have all of these reviews running...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement, I think the public might be getting a little bit confused about all the reviews and studies and analyses we’re undertaking as a government in respect to energy. We all know we have a problem. The problem is that people are finding it difficult to cope with the amount that they have to pay for energy in our communities. That, in a nutshell, is the problem. How are we as a government going to respond to that? Well, I think that all of these reviews, particularly the review of NTPC, might go some ways to figuring out if there’s some way...

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I had heard that there were some contractors, rather small contractors, local contractors, that there maybe was an issue with the cash flow on the project and some people who weren’t getting paid. I was just wondering if any of that has been brought to Minister McLeod’s attention. He is the MLA for that area. I was wondering if there were any financial problems being encountered with the drawdown and disbursement of funds to subcontractors. Thank you.

The very thing that makes this a timely discussion is also something quite unprecedented. We’ve just gone through the highest price per barrel of crude oil in history and this necessarily affects production of energy in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, has the government looked at how the increases in the cost of energy here in the Northwest Territories compare with the kinds of increases that have been experienced by Canadians in other jurisdictions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of constitutional development is certainly a huge issue. It has been briefly mentioned in some of the discussions with the results of the fallout from the Board Reform Initiative, but I must say that I’m extremely surprised to hear the Premier’s comments on this today. I’d like to ask the Premier if this is something that’s been discussed around the Cabinet table. Embarking on a full-fledged constitutional reform?

Mr. Speaker, it still seems like a scattered approach to me and in the process we are doing damage in the fact that we are creating uncertainty again amongst a group of people who are starting to talk about, if this is the government’s first response to MLAs saying that we need cheaper power rates in the Northwest Territories, it’s an overreaction. We should first of all look at whether or not Power Corp operates too arms-length from the government and if there are opportunities to bring it in. Just the fact that somebody can walk up and throw a proposal on our desk and we will then devote...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my questions to the Premier today with respect to the ATCO proposal that… just to put it in a little bit of context, Mr. Speaker, we asked this government to look at supplementary health benefits so that the working poor can be looked after. We get a response that takes drastic measures on a whole lot of other people. We agree in the strategic planning that we want an efficient and an effective government and we get a proposal back from this government to wipe out virtually every board in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we stand up on a theme day and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried