Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last Friday the Union of Northern Workers and the Public Service Alliance of Canada held a demonstration outside of this Legislature in opposition of the sale of the NWT Power Corporation to ATCO. They are very clear: The NWT Power Corporation is owned by all residents of the Northwest Territories. It’s our asset and it must remain a public asset. I agree with them.
History has shown that selling public power corporations to private interest has not resulted in lower power rates for residents over the long term. Just look at the results of the sale of the Yukon Power Corp to private interests. In the end, rates went up to the residents of the Yukon who were previously the owners of their public corporation. In Nova Scotia the province is in the process of reversing the sale of their public power corporation. They’re buying it back after the sale to private interests drove the cost of power up.
Ultimately, I believe that the two reviews that Cabinet are currently conducting are good first steps in finding ways to improve the provision of power throughout the Northwest Territories and, hopefully, reduce the costs of power for all residents. I look forward to the findings of these reviews.
I also support the ATCO review. I believe that it would be irresponsible not to conduct a comprehensive review of a proposal of this magnitude. I don’t believe we should sell the Power Corporation. Conducting this review, in my opinion, will help this government assess future opportunities and possibly identify some improvements which are required within our Power Corporation. All reasonable ideas and suggestions should be considered.
Having said that, I know the confusion still exists. During my discussions with individuals participating in the demonstration, I was asked some specific questions on process that I need to have clarified later today.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member from Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, as well, I would like to speak about the issue of the consideration of the ATCO proposal as it relates to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Premier for coming down to Hay River and meeting with us after the end of the last session as we requested him to do. We had a chance to meet with the employees and then have a much larger meeting at the Power Corp itself with the management and the employees together. I thought it was a very productive exercise. Unfortunately we hadn’t done that sooner because I think a lot of the concern and misunderstanding about what was being looked at could have been avoided and averted if we had taken a slightly different approach on this. Like so many other things that our government looks at, sometimes when things are not communicated well it gives the opportunity for there to be a big resistance built up to something which if clearly explained, people might have more understanding and they might be able to support it.
My colleague Mr. Abernethy mentioned the words “sale of the corporation.” I have never yet heard that the sale of NTPC was on the table. The only thing I have heard was that an unsolicited proposal for a merger between ATCO and NTPC was brought forward. We have to be clear in our language and I know that the UNW was here at the Legislative Assembly and, of course, understandably, they are concerned about government jobs and would oppose privatization.
As the Premier explained to the employees in Hay River that day, is that it is incumbent on this government to explore and look at the business possibilities and potentials of partnering with an organization who has much more money for energy development, hydro development than we do as a government. One of our problems is that we do have a debt wall and we have limited resources. So as we move forward, we’re trying to balance the interests of those very valued NTPC employees at headquarters and across the Northwest Territories with the interest of the consumers of the Northwest Territories, and it would not be responsible of this government not to consider options that may be able to really be in everyone’s best interests. Certainly if the ATCO merger did proceed, they would need good and qualified employees as well.
So I think that the meeting in Hay River was good and later today I’ll be asking the Premier questions so that people can be further updated and informed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member from Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
