Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, the Public Utilities Board agreed that $1 million of the $4 million that should be collected for the low water surcharge should come from the communities outside of the Snare system. The rationale for that was that in previous years when there had been high water, the rates in Yellowknife and on the Snare system were not dropped. The people of Yellowknife and Rae-Edzo and Detah actually contributed to the cost of keeping power down in other communities. The Public Utilities Board rationalized that a portion of the low water surcharge should be collected from those communities that had received benefit in the past.
Mr. Speaker, in response to the question as to why the government does not assist the community, that would be a situation the government could perhaps consider if the request was made by the community, but the Power Corporation alone cannot do that. By the rules of the Public Utilities Board, every community must pay 100 percent of its cost of power. The Power Corporation itself may not subsidize any community. If the government chooses to do it, that is a different matter, but that question would not be addressed to me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.