Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the tradition of asking questions to the Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation, I think I have a few more for him today. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to move beyond the fact that there might be this circumstance that we have to face as it relates to not getting these generators at the end of the day that were supposed to come from Virdi Power out of California. If there is in fact the chance that we aren’t going to get them, we know that there is a potential loss there for not hundreds of thousands, in fact, millions of dollars. The Minister did indicate in this House that there might have to be a consideration to write that off, but that means someone’s going to have to pay. My question to the Minister is how will the Power Corporation intend to recoup those losses? Will it come in the form of rate increases or will it come in the form of a government subsidy from this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I understand from our inspector in California that things are moving ahead, so some final inspections are being done on the products and I hope to be able to provide us with some good information in the next few weeks that the generators have arrived. I can’t provide that information yet, but final inspections are being done, so I’m much more optimistic than I have been in the last few weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That honestly is some positive news. I hope that we can get a little bit more detail from the Minister as to when they will actually arrive. In the meantime, I would like to ask the Minister then given that these are nearly three years old overdue in terms of receiving them, we’ve been incurring a lot of costs as it relates to putting in temporary backup generators. Can the Minister tell this House what kind of costs we have incurred in the meantime while having not received these generators to date and almost being three years late. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
You’re quite correct. There certainly has been a lengthy delivery in the delivery of these generators as I mentioned. The prior question, I am hopeful that we will receive them. I believe that the plan is that should there be additional costs, we will seek compensation from Virdi Power. There may be issues in being able to do because of Virdi’s situation, but there should be a set-off of any money that we owe them for any additional costs that we have incurred. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. I’d just like to remind Members that before speaking, wait for the red light to go on so the mike will be on. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The point I’m trying to raise is that at one point in time I asked a question that was asking for clarification on how much costs we had incurred ourselves for back-up generators and the like in the meantime while waiting for these generators. As of last February and March when I put the question to the Minister, it was around $500,000 at that time. I’d like clarification on what that number is today because that was back in February and March so that’s a number of months ago. Can the Minister give us clarification on how much costs we’ve incurred to date while waiting for these generators to get here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not have that figure but will be seeking it and will provide it to the House if requested. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At that time, it was the $500,000. Now it’s obviously going to be more. We’ve incurred more costs since then. We still haven’t received the generators. The Minister has indicated that it will be Virdi Power that will have to incur these costs. We’ll be taking it apparently off of their contract. At what point, I mean can the Minister please maybe remind us what the value of the contract to begin with was and at what point do they having to pay us instead of us having to pay them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation.
The contract, Mr. Speaker, was for several million dollars. I don’t have the exact figure in front of me. However, I would be happy to provide it to Members opposite. Again, there may be some set-off if there are additional costs incurred by us for the late delivery. Again, I will certainly keep the Members opposite posted as to progress in this matter. Thank you.
Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
