Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, there is one subsidy that is available for everyone across the Northwest Territories. It is a subsidy that this territorial government gives as a subsidy on a power bill. There is no specific subsidy for seniors on power costs. The issue and the idea has been circulated. However, other than the subsidy for everyone across the board, there haven't been any indicators that there will be one for seniors specifically. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The subsidy that is given to individuals now appears to be on the current rate that is being applied here in Yellowknife. In my constituency, I know that our electricity rates are a lot lower than Yellowknife because we have an abundance of power, even though we have to pay for the low water surcharge. In fact, seniors and the people of Fort Smith don't really get a subsidy for electricity. I would like to ask the Minister whether or not she would consider reviewing the concept of creating a subsidy program for seniors and, possibly, passing on the idea to the NWT Power Corporation. Thank you.

Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I had hoped that through the rate structure review, which would have established new rate structures in the communities, would have been completed by now. That would have identified Fort Smith in the special category where they have lower power generation costs. The rate structure review is still before the Public Utilities Board and I would assume that if there were to be further subsidies, the government would have to determine whether they would want to carry that out. I believe the best plan would be for us to try to move ahead as quickly as possible on the rate structure review so the communities know what the cost of power is in their communities and the

communities paying more than they should be can be adjusted downward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mrs. Marie-Jewell.