Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Premier for his support in this important cost of living issue for the Member for Tu Nedhe.

No question there. This is question period.

.

The honourable Member for Inuvik Twin

Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke about NTPC in my Member’s statement. I’d like to direct my questions today to the Minister responsible for NTPC, Mr. Yakeleya. I’d like to ask the Minister, first of all, if he has any indication of when the next general rate application is coming forward from NTPC.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are in phase 2 of the general rate application presently, and we’re just waiting to conclude that. We have our general rate applications every three years.

I’d like to ask the Minister if NTPC has to bring forward their request for a general rate application to the Minister’s office to justify it, and does he approve that?

Mr.

Speaker, the

question raised by the Member is very good. I'm being notified by the Crown corporation board of directors through the chairperson. The Crown has its own strict guidelines and legislation. When they go before the Public Utilities Board, they file the GRA. However, the Minister is aware and is in contact continuously with the chairperson of NTPC.

I’ll thank the Minister for that. I’d like to ask the Minister: because NTPC is a Crown corporation owned by the people of the Northwest Territories, would it not be possible for any applications for a general rate increase to be approved by the Legislative Assembly?

Mr.

Speaker, the

Member is certainly correct on that: the Crown corporation is owned by…. We are the shareholders. My one responsibility in the Cabinet is to work on behalf of the shareholders in trust in terms of the corporation. If the legislation was to change and how we do business within our Crown corporation changed, we certainly should be having the discussion with the House Members from this side and from the other side in terms of talking about how to restructure our corporation. Certainly, Mr. McLeod, under the Minister coordinating the Energy Committee, we are looking at all options of how we operate Crown corporations such as NTPC.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. Final

supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, on this side of the House, have heard from the shareholders of this Crown corporation, which is why we continue to raise the issue of the high cost of utilities. They would like the Legislative Assembly to play a major role in approving general rate applications that NTPC wants to bring forward.

I’d like to ask the Minister my final question. There’s obviously a cost to delivering power. I would just like to know from the Minister if that’s the same cost that people pay? If it costs a dollar to deliver the power, are we paying exactly a dollar, are we paying $1.20, or are we paying less? The NTPC has a surplus, and my understanding is that half of that goes back into the power subsidy, which is a good thing. But I would propose putting all that money back into the power subsidy and just having whatever it costs to generate power — charge that to the people of the Northwest Territories. Is that possible?

For me, certainly along with the Ministers’ Energy Coordinating Committee, Members have a role. I look forward to some good discussions with Members of the House in terms of our rate structure, our power and the high costs of our communities. My understanding is that we request the dividends from our Crown corporation, and from there we top up the dividend in terms of the surplus. We requested that from NTPC.

We certainly look forward to having some further discussions in terms of the operations of NTPC and remind the people of the North that the Public Utilities Board scrutinizes every step we have in our operations, and every cent is accounted for in terms of us doing operations and having reliable service in the Northwest Territories for our communities. We look forward to having discussions about the operations of our Crown corporation.

Thank you, Mr.

Yakeleya. The

honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr.

Speaker. This

question is for the Minister of ENR. The last two years we had beluga whales stuck in Husky Lake, just east of Tuk. Can the Minister advise me what the department will do this summer to try to stop them from entering the lake and help avoid their suffering?

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr.

Speaker,

fundamentally and initially, this is a federal responsibility, but ENR tries to be as responsive and as involved as possible. Of course, I would defer to the superior knowledge and expertise of my colleague. If he has any specific suggestions in anticipation of the coming fall, I’d be most happy to sit down and talk to him about that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to that, Mr. Minister. I’m here for you. We must have lost about 300 to 400 beluga whales. Just hearing that the Minister has already committed to me in regard to working with me, I’d take that as a yes.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. I don’t know if there was a question there, but the honourable Minister Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, clearly, I appreciate knowing the Member is there for me. I look forward to maybe sitting down with him before the end of session to talk about some specifics we could move on collectively.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question. The department of ENR should really do something before these whales become Species at Risk and my people cannot hunt these. I look forward to working with the Minister.

No question there, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During Member’s statements I raised the issue of the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. It’s like an open book for businesses out there to bid, tender and whatnot because they have our clear reference guide as to what we’re willing to pay, not to say we don’t pay more at times. My questions really go to the Minister of Finance to find out what he would be willing to do to help update the process to ensure we don’t show all our cards when it comes to going out there for bidding opportunities. Is he willing to look at updating the infrastructure plan, as I had suggested earlier, where we list the details of the project but keep out the dollar amounts?

Thank you, Mr.

Hawkins. The

honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Roland.