Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have an emergency statement. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this House that I will not be proceeding with legislation concerning the Northwest Territories Power Corporation during today's session.

As I previously informed Members, officials have been meeting over the past several months on an agreement that would have seen the corporation continued as a single entity over a three-year transition period. These discussions included the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Office of the Interim Commissioner, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and the Western Coalition.

These discussions continued until an hour ago. Tentative agreement was reached on all aspects of the transition agreement with the exception of how to share the dividend payments between the NWT and Nunavut during the transition period. Unfortunately, this fundamental difference of opinion cannot be resolved in time to proceed with legislation in the extremely limited window of opportunity remaining during the current session.

While all parties are disappointed that we have not yet been able to find agreement with respect to the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, I am encouraged by the fact that all parties remain committed to finding a northern resolution to this problem. The parties have agreed to meet again tomorrow afternoon to continue to work through this issue. I will keep Members informed of any new developments as they occur. Thank you.