Louis Sebert

No. Residents of Yellowknife are not being overcharged and are not paying 114 per cent of other zones. If that's the question; I'm not sure that I understood the question fully.

Mr. Speaker, there is no basis for NUL's assumption or assertion that we are overcharging by 114 per cent. As the House will know, electricity rates and cost of service percentages are regulated by the Public Utilities Board, which is an open and thorough process. So residents here are not being overcharged. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, at one point in the distant past, there was a very complex arrangement by which virtually every community had its own rate which led to great complexity and very, very lengthy hearings in front of the Public Utilities Board because each community had to go through the costs and so on. We thought that at the time, and I was on the board and so I had some input on this, that the fairest way was to move to the current rate that we now have. So there are different amounts paid by different communities. I would like, however, the Member opposite to recall that all taxpayers massively...

It is a rather complex method by which costs are arrived at, but there's a revenue-to-cost coverage ratio, as is called RCC, and that is of course different in each zone and I do confirm that Fort Smith area does have the lowest rates. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as I'm sure Members of this House will recall, a new board of directors was put in place in the spring of this year, which in itself represented a considerable savings. If I recall, the number is approximately $1 million. The new board has been tasked with many things, but clearly they are there to examine the costs of providing power in the Northwest Territories. We are faced with certain difficulties in that the population is stable, or declining in some cases, and yet costs continue to go up. So we are working with the corporation, the board, to reduce costs. We recognize that...

Yellowknife rates do not subsidize those in other rate zones, such as the South Slave or the thermal communities. This could never be the case, as cost of service in one zone is not applied to other zones.

There may be similar issues with the sheriff’s office that are clearly issues with the RCMP. I will have the department contact the sheriff’s office to see if there can be a discussion on these issues that have been raised by the Member opposite.

Yes, the RCMP of course do have relationships and agreements with all of the communities in the Northwest Territories. Although I’m not sure what is discussed at the meetings, I know that there are meetings on an ongoing basis. Certainly, I cannot comment on any individual cases, but I think the story the Member opposite is referring to shows some of the risks and dangers our RCMP members face on a daily basis. I would hope that those concerns are brought forward to community meetings, and, as I say, the RCMP do have community meetings with all of the communities in which they have detachments...

I’m not aware of any complaints that have been received. If there are, I will certainly look into that and get back to the Member with that information. I’m not certain also whether there is a complaints process specifically dealing with peace officers that are not RCMP officers so, again, I will look into that and get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, of course 70 per cent of the RCMP budget is actually paid for by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The individual programs dealing with these types of issues of course are those of the RCMP. I believe they receive training, extensive training, at Regina. Our resources go into supporting the RCMP. In that way; however, they devise the programs that they feel are most appropriate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.