Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Power Corp issue is an accountability issue for me. It’s about value for money. The day to day question is: how is it being operated? Are we getting the money that we expect out of this organization? Are we getting the accountability out of this organization that we expect for our citizens in the territory?

Mr. Speaker, I think the government has a role to play. I think it’s time to roll the NWT Power Corp into the territorial realm of responsibility, just like any other department. They act like a department but with the independence of free rein. It’s a grey area as they exist right now. They’re not privatized, but they’re not quite government, so they get to sort of play on their own field the way they want. If they set their own rules, who gets punished? The consumer.

I wouldn’t suggest we ram the PUB through any type of exemption or roll it into the GNWT. I still think today that it provides a service, but the fact is I believe in better performance, and what better

performance than bringing it here to the floor of this House for that type of scrutiny?

Mr. Speaker, it’s about accountability that I don’t think exists. It wasn’t that long ago we heard about the U.S. bailout. What it did was it helped look at bad practices. It helped look at bad policies. That bailout also helped look at — and by the way, rewards, bonuses for their CEOs who run this corporation…. I question this: what about the efficiency of the NWT Power Corp? Does the rate increase, in my mind, mock or similarly look like a proposed rate increase versus a bailout package? Possibly. In my view it’s scandalous. It looks at rewarding bad policies that aren’t reviewed by us. It looks at rewarding bad management, possibly not reviewed by us. And certainly it rewards CEO bonuses, again unaccountable and not examined by us.

Mr. Speaker, my issue is about having confidence in the system. The way it’s set up today, I don’t have confidence in the way it’s structured.

I’m going to close by saying we could probably do the best for our citizens by having it here, accountable in the Legislature, where it belongs.