Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it was drawn to my attention some two weeks ago, that there may have been, shall we say, above-average water in the system in previous years, and that might have generated a bonus. It was drawn to my attention, but I have seen no figures or details. I didn't get that from the Power Corporation. It came up in discussion with our lawyers who are representing us, as customers, and other people of the Northwest Territories at the PUB hearings. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Supplementary to the Minister of Finance. It would seem to me that the Minister of Finance, because we are the owner of the Power Corporation, has certain financial responsibilities in this area. When a decision is going to be made by the Power Corporation which will have very serious impacts on the number of communities in the Northwest Territories, the Power Corporation would make all the information available to the government. Would the Minister agree that the Power Corporation has an obligation to make all

the information available to the owner of the Power Corporation?

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, the Power Corporation is run by its board of directors and it reports to the government and this House, through the Minister responsible, which is the Premier. So in that respect, there is a reporting line and, obviously, as owners of the corporation, we are keenly interested in how the corporation is doing. But do we get into the details on a daily basis? No, Madam Speaker, that is left to the Minister in charge. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ballantyne.

Thank you. The Minister is aware that under the legislation, the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation can issue directives to the Power Corporation. Would you agree that the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation has it within her power to direct the Power Corporation to have put this extra money which is generated for the whole system into a fund to deal with low-water use?

Thank you. Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Madam Speaker, the Power Corporation has not advised me and I do not know if they've advised the Premier that there might have been some bonus water in years gone by. I would reiterate that it was drawn to my attention during a meeting on how our lawyers would represent us in the PUB hearings. So I don't have any hard and fast data in that regard. But, obviously, the honourable Member has researched this issue, as well, so there may be some meat in this rumour that there was above-average water in the system.

With regard to a directive being issued by the Premier or Minister responsible for the corporation, I guess the answer to that is yes. But I think that what has happened is that the corporation is operating, and even though we freely admit that we own 100 per cent of the corporation, the corporation operates at arm's length from the government as much as possible and the corporation went through the public process of applying to the Public Utilities Board for this particular increase. They would have had to apply to the Public Utilities Board to enable themselves to set up a reserve, I believe, Madam Speaker.

So, yes, I suppose we could have told them to do it, but I think the Minister responsible has chosen to let the Power Corporation do these things in front of the Public Utilities Board where everybody can have an input. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Final supplementary.

Final supplementary to the Minister of Finance, Madam Speaker. I would like to get the assurance of the Minister of Finance that in future when the Power Corporation is going to appear in front of the PUB and ask for an extraordinary increase such as this, that the owner and the Minister of Finance, on behalf of the board of directors, I suppose, the 24 of us, will ensure that the total information package is available; and if there is going to be a severe impact on a community or a number of communities, that a better process of information exchange is developed. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'll pass on that concern to the Premier. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Baffin South, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question will be directed to the Minister of Finance. First, I would like to thank him for coming to Cape Dorset and Sanikiluaq, and for having people from Revenue Canada come to those communities. Secondly, I'm sure people are already aware of what I will be mentioning. We did not know in Cape Dorset or Lake Harbour about the following.

Many of the carvers ended up owing a lot of money to Revenue Canada and we seem to have a problem with this. I wonder, Madam Speaker, if the Minister of Finance will be able to prepare, for the new tax year, information for people on how to properly fill out their income tax forms and to avoid further debit to Revenue Canada, especially for the carvers who have a big problem with this. Will the Minister be able to provide some more staff to visit the communities in dealing with income tax returns? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's true that Revenue Canada did visit south Baffin communities last year. They have told us that it was a useful experience and they felt that people in the communities learned. Unfortunately, the Sanikiluaq hotel was under renovation at that time. There were no accommodations there so they didn't make it to Sanikiluaq, but they will be, in fact, going there this year. I understand that the communities appreciated the visit as well, and we are working with Revenue Canada now to see if those visits can occur again this spring.

Madam Speaker, I would also point out to the honourable Member that if there is some kind of hardship with regard to people who are just catching up with the system and they owe large amounts of money, Revenue Canada has told me in the past that they would be willing to work out terms that are not too onerous on people in order to catch up those arrears, Madam Speaker. Just for the information for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kitikmeot, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question to the Minister of Renewable Resources. I would like to ask the Minister if his department currently has a policy to deal with community freezers. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Renewable Resources, Mr. Arngna'naaq.

The area in which the Department of Renewable Resources has been involved in the community freezers has been basically to pass it on to the community hunters' and trappers' associations who have been monitoring and maintaining the freezers in the communities. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I recognize that may be adequate for communities that have freezers. My question is whether the policy would address establishing freezers in communities that currently don't have them. Thank you.

Thank you. Minister of Renewable Resources, Mr. Arngna'naaq.