Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, it's difficult to give a short answer to that question because there are certain presumptions that one would have to make. I believe the Power Corporation has looked at the changes and looked at how that could affect their operation.

Madam Speaker, as we are aware, when the Power Corporation turned from a federal to a territorial Crown corporation, we knew that there were 51 rate zones. Each community had an established criteria on their rate. The commitment right from the beginning is that somehow we would have to rationalize what people were paying because, in a lot of communities, it was felt that some communities were less than what the actual costs for that particular community were or that area and some were paying more. As well as the 51 different rate zones for each community, we also have a government rate.

I believe that there have been some numbers that were crunched and I believe as much as possible that the Power Corporation could get from the figures that have been established previously are presently before the Public Utilities Board.

Madam Speaker, there is a long explanation and I realize the rules suggest that if there is a long explanation, that perhaps you would rule me out of order to go into all the detail. Madam Speaker, that's as much as I could provide at this time. Thank you.

Thank you. I just want to caution Members with regard to questioning items that may be placed before the PUB. I just confirmed with the Clerk that the PUB is a quasi-judicial body set up by legislation of this House, and items before any type of court of quasi-judicial body are not to be questioned while the process is in place through question period. So I'd like to caution Members to keep that in mind when they are questioning the government. The honourable Member for Iqaluit, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you. Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, yes.

Item 6, oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

I'd like to ask the Premier, Madam Speaker, since the government is intervening, which I think it should, and the government is also the owner of the Power Corporation, how can we be sure that the government, when

it intervenes in the PUB hearings, is not in conflict when it intervenes to at the same time protect its own interest as a major power consumer. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, I would just like to inform the honourable Member that on previous hearings the Government of the Northwest Territories was an interested party in those deliberations, so this is not a new role that we play as a government. Thank you.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Madam Speaker, I understand that, but I guess what I'm curious about is how, within the government, the public interest is split from the government's interest as the owner of the Power Corporation. For example, is there another government department that is responsible for the interventions other than the Power Corporation? Is there another Minister other than the Premier? How do we ensure the public interest is safeguarded in this process? Thank you.

Thank you. Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Madam Premier.

Madam Speaker, in our discussion on this matter, the Minister who would normally be responsible for this particular exercise would have been the Minister responsible for Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. However, that Minister, at this time, is also Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board. In the best interest of carrying out the responsibility in this peculiar situation, the Minister of Finance is taking on the role of overseeing the interest of government in the public hearings that are taking place. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Natilikmiot, Mr. Ningark.