Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me the deputy minister of Finance, Mike Aumond; the director of the Management Board Secretariat, Jamie Koe; and Ken Chutskoff, legislative counsel from the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to present Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act, which is legislation that was identified as a priority in the 17th Legislative Assembly.

The Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan, or NEBS, is a defined benefit plan similar to the one Government of the Northwest Territories employees have designed for public sector and non-profit employees working throughout the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

There are 42 NWT employers now active in the plan supporting their staff to make retirement plans that will meet their needs. In...

The issue of meters is a critical one. Every jurisdiction has to meter. You can’t manage what you can’t count, and you can’t bill what you can’t count. The issue of are they accurate, from everything I’ve seen and heard there is not an issue with faulty meters. I will, in fact, raise the issue and will follow up with the Power Corp and see if there have been concerns raised in that area and what redress was taken.

We did a rate restructuring a number of years ago. We have the thermal zone and the hydro zone. The rates for the thermal zone are pegged to the Yellowknife rate. In the hydro zone the cost of business is done and the rates set through the Public Utilities Board.

I appreciate the Member’s question. We are looking at how we are structured as a system. We are looking at generation issues that we know we need to address that would help bring down the cost of living as it relates to the price of energy. We are looking at all those major areas as we look to the fundamental government priority of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Ernie Bernhardt, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly but, more importantly, my roommate back in residential school many, many, many years ago. I welcome him to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is a 50/50 split for the contributions. That’s the way it is structured and that’s the way the employers and employees share the cost.

Yes, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 12, 2015, I will move that Bill 50, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2015-2016, be read for the first time.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We’ve noted the Member’s suggestion. Thank you.