Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform us as to why there is the need for the rate rider when, by the information the Minister provided, we have actually seen some savings going to the gas turbine engines? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Inuvik rates are currently about 15 percent lower as a result of the gas turbines than they would be without the gas turbines, if they were still on diesel. That works out to about five cents per kilowatt lower. On July 1, 2001, the Public Utilities Board approved a rate increase that covered approximately 35 percent of the increase that was anticipated. Then on October 1, 2002, the PUB approved a shortfall rider - and that is the one the Member is referring to - that covers about 65 percent of the 2001-2002 shortfall. So the shortfall rider was there to distribute out the increase, so people wouldn't have a huge change in their rates when we had to pick up the balance between the 35 percent approved in 2001 and what the actual end result would be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister inform us as to why there is a shortfall in earnings if there seems to be a savings going to these gas turbines? Thank you.

Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the savings on the gas turbine is not as great as are the increased costs in providing power. So there is still a shortfall in Inuvik as there is right across all of the Territories when we work out the cost of operating the Power Corporation and the cost of fuel and capital costs. Inuvik has those same costs. Every community has the shortfall rider because this goes right across the system. If we didn't have the savings from the gas turbines in Inuvik, instead of the energy rate being 38.13 cents, or whatever it is exactly, it would be about five cents per kilowatt hour higher than that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just before the Power Corporation changed over to the gas turbines, there was a great jump in power again because the territorial government got away from where it picked up its bunker C. It used to be out of Norman Wells and now it's out of Edmonton, I believe. That caused us to go to this area. The community has been paying a higher rate because of the capital replacement costs. When would those be done with so that we might actually see a drop or is there not going to be a drop and they are going to continue to grow and add on charges?

Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I think eventually there will only be a substantial drop if the price of fuel goes down. I don't know how likely that is or if we are able to switch the whole system in the Power Corporation to gas-fired generators or, better yet, over to hydro. As long as we are relying on diesel fuel, we are always going to be subject to whatever the prices are. As well, the cost of operating the Power Corporation continues to be high as long as we are on diesel. The important point is, Mr. Speaker, that the territorial power support program does level this all out back to a Yellowknife rate. So even though we talk about a 38 cent per kilowatt rate, that's not what people are paying for the first 700 or first 1,000 kilowatts depending on their situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 6, oral questions. The Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there are specific circumstances like the Member has raised, I will be happy to get those details from him, to ensure we take the steps to assist all the NWT residents in renewing their health care cards and there should be forms available. If there isn't, we will make sure that they are made available. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the deadline is missed, then people will have to reapply, but no one will be denied services if they are in need. The issue will be sorting out and making sure Northerners have appropriate health care cards. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every effort has been made through mail-outs to families, to ads in the paper regularly. We have modified things as we go because we know that it hasn't been a perfect process, so we have been trying to make every effort to notify everybody. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.