Perhaps, maybe. Yes. I’d like to ask the Premier whether or not he can be a little more forceful in his commitment. Actions speak louder than words, in my belief, and if we’re going to indicate that we are at all interested in saving our environment, I think this government ought to lead the way. So what is the Minister willing to commit to to preserve the impacts on our environment relative to disposable bottles and mugs and cups?

What I will commit to is looking at what we have in place as well as how we can expand that program to include and get that information back to the Members working through the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you for that more forceful commitment to the Premier. I guess my next question would be when I can expect a reply.

I know there is a program we’re working on called Greening the Government and I’ll have to again go back to the Minister responsible for the area and have him provide timelines as well.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation some questions on the rate riders and the current drop in fuel prices. I know that in previous questions the Minister had indicated that they’re not going to be doing anything for three years before they reassess the general

rate application. But the fact remains that the opportunity is now, the point of power is in the moment to reduce the rate riders or do a reverse rate rider. I’d like to ask the Minister if they can look at doing a reverse rider and take this opportunity to pass those cost savings on to our customers.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of NWT Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of fuel riders in our communities that have diesel generation. Those, again, are for fuel that was consumed in previous years. That is the change. Once they hit the revenue that they were targeted for, those riders would drop off. They don’t have to wait for three years in those particular instances. They are set out in place through the PUB and a certain revenue number has to be achieved. At that point it would drop off. I could get more detail for the Member on that. Thank you.

I was just curious that as soon as the fuel prices went up, they had no problem increasing the rates, Mr. Speaker. Now that the fuel prices have come down, they are kind of wobbling on giving the rebate back to the customer. I would like to ask again, will the Minister consider some kind of reverse rider that will benefit the consumers of our NWT Power Corporation? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, let’s get the facts out there so that Members and the public know what we are speaking about. The fuel price and rate riders that went up were fuel that was consumed in the previous years. It was not because of last year’s resupply on its own. The rate riders, you have to prove your cost and go through that system with the Public Utilities Board. The number of rate riders has been put in place. Once the revenue number has been achieved, they will drop off. I will get that list for Members so that they have all the information. Thank you.

The great increases in people’s individual power bills doesn’t concur with the facts as brought to us. The next general rate application is in three years. Is there a way or mechanism in our Public Utilities Board or else through the Power Corporation to look at decreasing the rates as a result of the benefit of lower fuel costs this winter? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation does provide the power generation and distribution. We receive our fuel at the same time as petroleum products division delivers in many of our communities and we pay for the product when it is delivered. So we had to pay the higher price in many of our communities and live with that. That is

part of the reason that the rate rider went forward on that basis. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hate to be repetitive, but my question is, will the Minister talk with the NWT Power Corporation and look at some kind of mechanism, some way of instituting a reverse rate rider or an adjustment applied to the PUB for an adjustment to the existing rate riders so that they can take the advantage of the lower fuel costs and that can be passed on to the customers of the NWT Power Corporation? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that if it can be shown that the targets that were approved overachieved, in the sense return more revenue than was anticipated, then that could be looked at. Right now I haven’t had any indication that we have hit that. Again, the prices and the adjustment that went forward on the last general rate application was based on fuel that was purchased and used in previous years with some estimates for the 2007-08 year. I will get information as to the process and provide that to Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, I did have a chance between my last question to the Minister of Health and Social Services and now to reconfirm that incident that I referred to at the Stanton Hospital about the inmate coming for a visit in the room of a constituent. The bottom line really for me is not about perhaps the correspondence happened to miss the Minister or not. That is not the issue. The important thing is, do we have protocols in place to ensure that this doesn’t happen again? Mr. Speaker, my constituent will come forward and speak personally with the Minister, if she would like to verify that fact, but ultimately do we have protocols in place to ensure this won’t happen in the future? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, first let me just make it clear that the constituent brought up a number of issues that are quite serious and the authority and all of the responsible officials have looked into it and are looking into it and have

committed to follow up to make sure that some of those incidents do not happen. With respect to having an inmate in the hospital, yes there is a protocol in place. They are to be guarded at all times by two guards. We will make sure that is followed through and that the work is done properly. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that is good to hear. If I could take this one step further, Mr. Speaker, in the event that somehow this doesn’t happen, has the hospital ever considered creating a bit of a designated area that inmates coming for much needed medical services that they probably do deserve as well, but has the Stanton Hospital ever considered designating a more secure area for them just to make sure this type of incident doesn’t happen again in the future? All the protocols we could have in place, sometimes things happen. I just want to make sure that it doesn’t turn into. I wish we had done this differently. Thank you.

There is a constant shortage of beds and staff there. I do not know the number of cases where we have inmates in the hospital, so I am not aware if there is a plan for that. I think the important thing is, though, that we strictly enforce the protocol where there is an inmate as an inpatient that that inmate has to always be guarded by two guards and that is the policy. We need to make sure that is followed through rather than creating a separate hospital for inmates. I will undertake to look to see what the frequency is of the inmates using the hospital. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this constituent spoke to the fact that this happened a couple of times on the stay and that perhaps maybe it is because this inmate originally had this room. They kept wandering back into it to use the washroom. It was witnessed even by hospital staff. Fortunately, there was no incident that occurred other than this scenario of them showing up, but the protocols of the guards appears to be one of the significant issues. I am just thankful it wasn’t a violent person in this type of situation. That could have made it worse.

Mr. Speaker, I am not asking to create a new hospital. Do we have an area tucked off to the side that is still within the hospital that we could designate as these types of rooms for security reasons? Thank you.

I don’t want to debate the facts here, but the Member and I both have written documents from the constituent where she laid out 20 points. One of the points has to do with the fact that an inmate was staying across the hall and that she felt, obviously, very uncomfortable. The hospital services and beds are very precious as we know. I think the important thing is that we make

sure that an inmate is isolated from the general population. That is being done and that will be enforced. Thank you.