We’re all well aware that the Cabinet has the authority, as does the Executive Council, to exempt the NWT Power Corp from delivering a dividend payment to the government. By the way, when I say dividend I mean profit.

Is the Minister able to speak to how long this happens to be the case and when was the last time the government directed the NWT Power Corp to deliver a dividend? As this government waived the dividend, what is the intent of why they’ve waived it?

In a perfect world the Housing Corporation decides to get away from this particular unit that has eight units, we sell it for whatever dollar amount, I have yet to find the value or balance. We sell it, which means the money goes into the GNWT coffers. Somebody now becomes the owner and someone decides they want to be in the rental business in the Northwest Territories in this community. I don’t want to ask a hypothetical question because we’d be ruled out of order, but I see it as a huge opening that someone would be coming to us asking for money and assistance in order to create a business...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll have questions for the Minister of the NWT Power Corporation.

My question for the Minister is: Can the Minister of the NWT Power Corp inform this House which of our 33 communities the NWT Power Corp does not service as the distribution agent and explain why that is not the case? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Has the Minister come to the Legislature to ask for additional money to repair those eight units to ensure we would increase the housing stock in that community with more than 10 percent by adding those…for those 12 individuals or families waiting to get housing?

Thank you. Apparently there’s been a housing agreement with the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada. I wonder if the Minister could provide some detail on that, not just program detail but where we would see some of that initiative and detail roll out on the ground and where we will see that support. I think there’s a four-year program of money. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Stewart. With that said, do we have any particular market rental units in existence in any of the communities that aren’t being utilized at this particular time? If so, can I get a list of that as well as what the market rents would be charged? I assume a monthly basis for those particular units.

Mr. Chairman, I will be pleased to accept that. The Minister has already mentioned 36 market rental units and he said that’s adding to the 100 market rentals in the smaller communities, which is good. I assume with the 36, would the Minister be able to provide the detail as to where those 100 market rentals are in the smaller communities? Thank you.

When the Minister says 40 replacements, we’re doing one for one. When he says the Housing Corp is doing 36 market, is that new, new, in the sense of new in a net context? If he could provide that detail.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s certainly well within the authority and the powers that the Minister can direct the department to start evaluating this rather than maybe pushing it off to a new Assembly and to sometimes get the decision by committee by saying, well, we’ll wait for committee to provide direction could take quite a bit of time. In short, the Minister is well within his ability to say this is something we could review and perhaps provide some input back to committee, and that’s what I’m looking for.

Northerners need an opportunity to help heat their houses more efficiently. This can...

I think most of us can agree here that with the operation of a house, a lot of money is devoted to heating it. Heat loss is a major contributor to poor energy efficiency if a house isn’t well insulated, the doors aren’t good and the windows don’t withstand the needs for cold weather here.

Is there a reason why doors, windows and exterior insulation aren’t part of the energy efficiency rebate program, which could go a long way to help Northerners heat their houses in a more efficient way? We spend a lot of time worrying about wood stoves, boilers, furnaces, toilets and lightbulbs, but these...