Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's with great pleasure that I recognize a loyal constituent and a person who I think has reserved seating now in the gallery. She's here very often. It's Major Karen Hoeft of the Salvation Army. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes, acknowledged the hard work of students and other people in our education system, students who are returning for the year. My daughter, Carmen, is in the gallery today, Mr. Speaker. She is back from a two-year program at Lester B. Pearson College at the Pacific. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is the day for educators and students. I would like to recognize the chair of the Yellowknife District Education Authority Roy Desjarlais, and Julian Landry who has been introduced before. He's the chair of the district education council for the Deh Cho. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Any further recognitions? With that, I would like to say on behalf of all the Members, welcome to the Legislative Assembly. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question will be directed to the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation. Mr. Speaker, in line with my Member's statement, I would like to know from the Minister what avenue customers have when they are disputing their monthly power bills beyond just going to the local office and saying they disagree. If they feel the responses they've received are not adequate, what other routes do they have?

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, the avenue that customers have, their first option, if customers are dissatisfied with their power bill is to go to their customer services representatives and the community people to whom they would pay their bills. The information then is sent on through to the Power Corporation. If at all possible, then those situations will be looked into to find out what the problem may be to try to rectify the situation. If they are not satisfied with the response they are getting from the Power Corporation, then I would certainly be ready to refer any requests I get from MLAs to the board and to the president of the Power Corporation. I am sure the board Members and chairperson would also be ready to do the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, when customers feel they are being charged for usage they didn't incur, you are saying that they should bring that to the board or to ourselves and make it a political situation. Is that the only avenue that's available to them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, once they have exhausted all their avenues through the Power Corporation, that's mainly through the local office, the superintendent, all the way up through the system in the Power Corporation, then they have their MLAs who represent them. They can bring it to me and I can take it on to the board chair or the board members or they could take it directly to the board members. All customers have the option when the Public Utilities Board meets on a fairly regular basis on rate applications, to make their concerns known then. But if it's about a specific power bill, a specific issue in their own house, then the best avenue is to work through the Power Corporation. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, the evidence I have is that they have been very thorough in looking into any of the complaints that are brought to them as a corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Power Corporation have staff available for customers to go into their homes to inspect equipment and provide onsite inspection to see if there are faulty pieces of equipment in residents' homes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes. In addition to the customer services group, they do have technicians and professionals who will look into it and they have done that in the past. They have gone in where there have been complaints and put in test meters, for example, to check out the meter and see if there is a problem there. They have also in the past referred people to the energy efficiency program, for example, where there are staff, and they will, through the Energy Alliance, do an assessment of someone's house, their heating system, their efficiency and determine what measures they will be able to take to save on energy costs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Your final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Did the Minister state that customers would have access through the Energy Alliance to have someone go in and do an inspection in their homes? If that's the case, would the Power Corporation pick up the tab for someone travelling outside of the capital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, there is a program referred to as the energy efficiency program that is administered through the Energy Alliance. The Power Corporation has one member on it. A lot of their work though is coordinated by RWED. There is a small fee for them to come in and do an assessment of someone's home, but to my understanding, that program is available to anybody in the Northwest Territories who is concerned that their house may not be as energy efficient as it should be. That's not just for large communities or just for Yellowknife, it's for everybody. I know for a fact that it is available to residents in Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister of MACA, Mr. Steen.