Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few comments in the course of this department's budget. I have some questions I would be interested in having a response to from the Minister. It is too bad Mr. Robertson is not here. I would like to give him credit for how far he has brought the corporation from the day, a number of years ago, we took it over from the federal government. We have come a long way from NCPC. Those of us who remember those days will remember the litany of complaints and problems that we all had with the federal crown corporation. We are not all the way there yet. There are still problems, but we have to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Robertson, the board of directors, and the staff of the Power Corporation deserve credit for the tremendous progress we have made over the last number of years.
The future looks very exciting for the Power Corporation. I think that the agreement with the Dogrib Nation was a major step forward for all of us, even though the project that we are trying to get financing for right now, their Cascades project, is a relatively small project. In the future, we can see the possibility of Yellowknife being almost totally supplied by hydroelectric power, and we also see some tremendous opportunities in the many areas north of Yellowknife. I think that people in Yellowknife and across the territories should recognize that, if we gain large new customers on our hydro system, it is going to benefit everybody, bring power rates down, stabilize power rates and make us more competitive in many ways. For people in Yellowknife, it is very much so. One of the big benefits, if ever this mining gets off the ground, will be that -- a direct benefit for the people of Yellowknife with their power rates in the long term. I see much potential. There has been talk over the years of having a power grid system here in the territories, the possibility of perhaps exporting power to Alberta. I would like to ask questions of that nature to the Minister when we get into details.
I have one concern. It is not really a big concern. I am generally fairly satisfied with the way the Power Corporation is operating at this point in time. I will ask this question when we get into details. As we get into a much more complex area, when we are dealing with big diamond mines and huge potential hydro-electric projects, I wonder if the management team of the Power Corporation is going to have to be augmented somehow. The team has done a good job up until now. I think it will have to be added to as we get into bigger and more complicated plays that are going to take a great deal of specific expertise, which we might or might not have now, but I will be asking the Minister some questions about that.
We have come a long way. I think it has been a generally good experience. I think that the fact that we bought the Power Corporation, the price we paid for the Power Corporation, all turned out to be a fairly good deal for the Government of the Northwest Territories. The future looks very bright. The Power Corporation has been a very effective medium for this government in order to undertake public policy. It has been a very effective medium to bring together regions of the Northwest Territories. It has been a very strong tool in our GNWT arsenal of positive tools that we have to serve the people of the Northwest Territories. With that, I will conclude my remarks, Mr. Chairman.