Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Power Corporation puts in general rate applications based on thermal zone and hydro zone. They generate and distribute. Northland Utilities operates and distributes, they don’t generate, and they look at their business on a community-by-community basis. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this relatively rare opportunity to recognize a very important person who has the patience of Job, my dearly beloved, Jeri.

We are collectively in the practice of managing risk. In this case, we are doing that and I’m of the opinion – and I’ve stated this already and I will restate that for the Member – as a government that we can manage that risk. There are things we have to do for clarity, for prudence on a go-forward basis and devolution is going to allow us to do some of those things. Thank you.

We are using the existing processes. We’ve offered our best guidance, advice and position, as a government, in a document in terms of best practices on fracking that has gone to committee, which we are looking on feedback for. It has been developed in conjunction with the regulators and we intend, once it goes to committee, to put it out to the public and industry.

We are also, as a government, as we look at post-devolution, looking at the structure of the regulatory regime so that we can design a northern controlled, made-in-the-North, resident-in-the-North regulatory process, all of which are...

Mr. Speaker, I’m standing and I’m answering every question. The fact that the Member doesn’t like the answers doesn’t mean I’m not answering the question fully and in a forthright manner as befits a Minister of the government. Everything we do is subject to audit. If there is any part of the operation that Members want us to put under a magnifying glass, as they have done in the past in different areas, absolutely we will put any system we have under the rigours of the Auditor General. If they can give us advice and recommendations that we haven’t contemplated, we’ll look at those. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, one is called an estimate and one is called an actual. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we’re going to provide the information to the Members. It lays out some of the information I quoted here and the different rates by community. But, yes, there is a process by which they’re arrived at. Yes, some communities have chosen to deal with Northland Utilities versus NTPC. They negotiate their arrangement with the franchise fee. All that is done through due process. There’s nothing untoward about it. But we will lay out the information and the rates so that we can respond to the request from the Member and Mr. Hawkins, and we will provide that to the House and to the...

Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am requesting to return to item 5 on the agenda.

---Unanimous consent granted

We are working closely with the current federal regulator, which is the National Energy Board. They’ve just released their filing requirements a few weeks back as it pertains to hydraulic fracturing on their requirements. For example, the disclosure is there of fluids on a voluntary basis. They are encouraging industry to make sure that they do disclose. We are told as a government that it’s an industry best practice that there be public disclosure. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers agrees. We are working with all the various parties to come up with a guidance document. So this...