Mr. Chairman, the Financial Administration Act says that nobody can borrow money on
behalf of the government unless authorized by this House. It is the wish of the government, through the Power Corporation that it owns, to borrow money by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Power Corporation in order to advance those funds to the Dogrib Power Corporation in order that the Dogrib Power Corporation can go ahead with the construction of a hydro plant. Mr. Chairman, the reason that we are using an arm of the government, as it were, to borrow these funds is because the Power Corporation has a proven track record, with the ability to not only borrow but raise capital and to repay that capital. It has a track record, therefore, if it were to borrow through the Energy Corporation, it's track record would be reflected in the Energy Corporation, that Energy Corporation could raise the money and probably at a much lower rate than a new company such as Dogrib Power Corporation who is just getting on its feet and has no track record with money or loans of this size, Mr. Chairman.
So recognizing that costs incurred by the Dogrib Power Corporation ultimately get passed through to the Government of the Northwest Territories through its Power Corporation, we felt that it would be better for us to borrow the money at a lower rate with a proven track record and assist this company with which we have a contract to buy their power. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.