Jane Groenewegen

We’re very fortunate to have non-government organizations, NGOs, here in the Northwest Territories and here in Yellowknife that are very concerned about the fortunes of women and children

I would like to ask the Minister if she could, through some format, initiate a dialogue with some of these organizations that may have firsthand knowledge of these types of situations and come back with more information to gauge if there is interest and a need in the community for this type of service.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the situation gets very grave in terms of rates in the communities, we have heard communities of larger sizes say, “We could go to another power supplier,” or “We could do better standalone. Let’s just get away from the Power Corporation.” To the issue of whether or not the Power Corporation holds the monopoly for the provision of power in the NWT community, we know that Northland Utilities has a group of communities that they service in distribution and in power generation. When it comes to larger communities like Fort Simpson, for example, and they say, “You know...

I hope it will be a big part of it, Mr. Speaker, because to undertake a review of the scope and the comprehensive nature that is being talked about here today would be costly and time consuming. I think there were some very good recommendations in the Robertson Report that have not been acted on to date. I just hate to see redundancy and spending money if we don’t have to. Of course, there is always a bit of a political hesitancy on some of these things to make major moves.

I’d like to ask the Premier today if in fact, given the seriousness of the situation with the power rates out there in the...

Mr. Speaker, this is a very complex subject as we struggle here in the Northwest Territories to find the most efficient means to deliver reliable energy to the communities of the Northwest Territories.

Again we’re faced with the remote and rural nature of many of our communities, the far distances we have to haul fuel to feed diesel generators, the disparity that’s created when some communities are able to be supplied from hydro — all of this within the context of a relatively small territory in terms of population. We struggle with all of these things, but we need a very comprehensive review...

I do find myself in a strangely awkward position when it comes to talking about the NWT Power Corporation. The headquarters and many of the good folks who work at the Power Corporation are constituents of mine and of yours and we believe are trying to do the best they can under the circumstances, but the challenges are great, and as I said, I believe we need to look at every possibility.

To the suggestion that the Public Utilities Board may not be relevant in our jurisdiction: I wonder if I can get the Premier to comment on that. I believe that they do play a useful role. They are arm’s length...

Mr. Speaker, I’m all for, as I said earlier, leaving no stone unturned, but there is one stone you could turn over. Under it you would find the Robertson Report. We asked exactly these same questions seven years ago. We engaged the services of a gentleman named Jim Robertson, who is highly respected in the private sector and had been Chair and president of the Power Corporation when it was repatriated from the federal government to our territorial government.

I think what precipitated that review at that time may have been a struggle for the franchise. Maybe the NTPC wanted to take over the Hay...

I thank the Premier for that. I did mention yesterday that, understandably, capital accommodation, home travel, spousal travel, perhaps even the entertainment allowance — some of these things will definitely be there. There is one area of the ministerial benefit which I find a little bit curious and that I referred to yesterday as well, and that is the accruing of holidays that get paid out to Ministers at the end of the year or at the end of their term. This is something quite unique and different, obviously, than what Regular Members have access to. So I am going to ask the Premier: why...

It is my pleasure today to recognize in the visitor’s gallery the mayor for Hay River, his Worship Marc Miltenberger.

Yes, that would be most helpful. If staff would have access to the ministerial benefits policies, including benefits, amounts, and so on, that were in place prior to the review by the 15th Assembly decision on a new policy, which took effect at the beginning of the 16th Assembly…. If they could compare those two and provide that to Members or table that as a public document, that would be what I’d be asking for. Would the Premier be prepared to do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last four questions on this topic went by so quickly.

The ministerial benefits policy. We got a very succinct answer from the Premier that, yes, they are set by the Cabinet. But we had kind of a less succinct answer when it came to who actually sets the policies that are in place right now. The Premier referred to perhaps looking at these and doing a review. But I’d like to ask the Premier: when he says that this policy is in place as a result of work done by the previous government, maybe he would know, having been in the previous government, was this ministerial...