Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today I would like to make a few comments about the Power Corporation. The Government Leader has indicated that she will introduce a discussion paper in the House. I have some concerns and I would like to put them on the record.
There are normally not that many reasons why one privatizes a Power Corporation, but those that there are, I think probably follow in this pattern. Either that the government-run organization is inefficient. If that is the case here, then we want to hear about it because we certainly have to deal with that. Another reason is that a government or Power Corporation tries to gain management experience and access to capital by selling the corporation or a majority share to a large utility company. The third reason is that a government needs to sell off its assets to pay out an accumulated debt, which I don't think is the case here. The fourth reason are ideological reasons. This government has never been an illogical government. It has always been a government that is practical and tries to solve problems.
I will tell you my concerns right now about the timing of the concept of privatization. When division is looming, the Power Corporation is a very viable asset. There is going to be some discussion between east and west as to how that asset will be apportioned in the long term. I am also sure that the next Nunavut government would like to make the decision as to what they want to do with their Power Corporation.
Secondly, the Power Corporation has been a very useful tool, public policy. The example is the Dogrib Power Corporation, which eventually will supply power to the city of Yellowknife and hopefully if mining does take off, will eventually supply power to the mining areas. So it is a tremendous tool for the GNWT to unify the regions of the territories. We have precious few of those in these changing times.
I also think we should wait until the formula financing agreement has been finalized and the cost of division has been agreed to. If we don't, any money that comes into our coffers will either be quickly spent on a multitude of projects or will be quickly discounted by the federal government in their negotiations with the Finance Minister.
Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.