Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, because it has been a while, I have some questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Mr. Speaker, in my last line of questioning to the Minister, I revisited the matter with regard to the generators that are being built out of California. The Minister indicated that we are still unsure whether we are getting them or potentially pursuing some legal action. Can the Minister today report in the House any more clarity? Are we in fact going to be receiving these generators at some point in time, or is that dead and gone and are we pursuing legal action? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have any new news with respect to this matter. Of course, as I did mention in the House previously, we are hoping we will get at least some of these generators. There is also always the possibility, I suppose, of litigation in California, but that may not lead to any great success because you are probably going to be dealing, should it come to that, with issues surrounding creditors' rights and so on. I will certainly give this House an update as soon as I have heard anything further. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think we need to ask ourselves: when are we going to actually cut this loose? When are we going to stop costing ratepayers and taxpayers more and more money every day on this particular boondoggle that has obviously gone off the rails? What are the next steps? Can the Minister tell us what the next steps are going to be? We have to make a decision. Maybe we have to get another RFP out and start getting generators built and get them here soon. We are using backup generators in the meantime that are costing us daily. Can the Minister tell us when we are going to draw the line and put out an RFP and get some new generators built?
As this House knows, we have invested a considerable amount of money in this project. We do not want to cut that loose unless there appears to be no hope at all of getting these generators. If, however, it does come to that, we will have to go out for an RFP because we do need these generators.
My final question is: we have been incurring costs daily, notwithstanding the costs that we are potentially losing as it relates to the deposit that we put down on these generators and the generators themselves that we may never see. We have got a lot of equipment that is in place that is being used as backup equipment in the meantime. The last number that the Minister shared with us, I think back in March, was somewhere in the neighbourhood of about $500,000 at that point. I am afraid to ask what that number is today, but I would like to know: who is going to be paying for that, then? If this generator contract goes off the rails, who will be paying for those costs that have been incurred today that that proponent, Virdi Power, was supposed to pay?
Clearly, Virdi Power would be responsible for these costs if they have breached the contract. However, realistically speaking, it may be that that is not a likely option to recover our money. It may be, unfortunately, that, should we not receive the generators, we may simply have to write off this money.
