The intent was not to make some part of our population pay for those who we are hoping to include that are currently excluded. The intent of the policy, as it was approved in September of 2007, is that we need to add an affordability or an ability to pay or inability to pay as one of the factors in determining eligibility. Now, I have committed that we will review this scenario because we have heard loud and clear about concerns who we are including, who we are excluding, who we are expanding it to, what are the cost implications, near and far on a number of issues. So I am committing to the Member, and again to this House, that I am going into this

process open minded and I would ask Members to do the same and I haven’t got a predetermined position on that. Thank you.

I guess, if I hear the Minister properly, then the intent is not to have -- to go back to my first question -- some residents in our Territory paying more than residents in other parts of this great land and other parts of Canada. To the Minister, we have talked a lot about the policy and the intended policy changes to cover people at the lower end of the workforce. I would like to ask the Minister what is the estimated additional cost to provide this coverage to the lower income end of our workforce? I would like to get a number, please. Thank you.

That’s the kind of number that we need to update and verify because remember this policy was approved back in 2007 and we need to work out numbers and obtaining and confirming and getting better and more blue chip information, as they say, to learn more about this policy, and changes will be the important part of this exercise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for the answer. It’s about what I expected. I would have thought that that information would have been available to us now if we are going to be putting a policy in place and we expect that there was going to be an additional cost. I would have thought that cost would have been known upfront. That said, when will the Minister be able to provide that number to Members of this House? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I need to correct that also. The Member said in her last question that from what I am saying, no one in the Territories will pay more than what they are paying in the southern jurisdictions. I have no idea to determine that right now, because the packages that we offer under the Supplementary Health Program are very different than a package of programs they offer down south. For example, homecare is included as supp health in Yellowknife or in the Territories, which is not the case down south.

Mr. Speaker, the reason why we don’t have an exact number as to exactly who is going to benefit with these changes and how much that is going to cost is because of the fact that we’re dealing with a population that comes and goes. Health programs are demand driven. Once you set a policy on who is eligible, whoever is eligible under that criteria will come in and benefit. Right now, under these program changes, we are trying to include those who were not included before. But until they come

and benefit from it, we aren’t going to know exactly how much that is. We will provide the Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, as we move forward on this review process, some of the numbers in income levels, age breakdown, what we are offering under supplementary health right now, who we expect will get into the new program. We will come with all this information so that the Standing Committee on Social Programs can give us feedback on how we move forward from here as we start the review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation rate, general rate application that went in, was to pay for fuel that was purchased not this season but the season prior to that to make up the loss there. So we would see, as we go through refueling, the cost would be looked at again and most general rate applications come on a three-year cycle. So we would have to look at those costs, but again the general rate application that went forward to the PUB that was approved was based on previous year’s costing off fuel supplies, and most of our communities that are

run on diesel are refueled once a year and that affects those communities. So it would affect on how we would move forward with any numbers.

Meanwhile, we are doing work on the discussion paper that was launched around our rates and generation distribution. Thank you.

I don’t believe we can wait three years for another GRA. I believe people are having a heck of a time paying their power bill and if someone in a one bedroom apartment in my riding is paying over $300 a month for power, I can’t imagine what people in the smaller communities have to pay for power. Even my own power bill at my house has gone up 30 percent, Mr. Speaker. Like I said, I want to ask the Premier, the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation, can he instruct the Power Corporation to give some relief next year? People cannot afford to wait three years, Mr. Speaker. Can it happen next year? It should happen next year. Thank you.

Members are aware that the general rate application or any rate changes in rate structure are very complicated. It’s not a matter of a Minister standing up and saying this shall be done. We have to work through the legislation through the Public Utilities Board and establish the cost if there are cost savings, we could look at doing something, making a change. Some of the rate riders that have been put in place that also affect the cost of that power as they’ve reached their target goal of the revenue that was being sought, would drop off as well. I can get back to the Member if there are any of those in place and when those might be able to drop off. Thank you.

Like I said, if we wait three years, my fear is we are going to lose residents. I already know many people, given the current state of affairs here and the cost of living, are packing their bags and heading south. If we don’t take this concern seriously, more people are going to leave. Paying a power bill of $300 for living in an apartment is very expensive and people can’t continue to pay these high rates of power.

I’d like to ask the Premier, who gave permission...and the one thing people have trouble with is we’re still paying these bonuses to the staff at the Power Corporation in excess of $600,000. When people see those bonuses being paid and then they’re paying this $300 a month for an apartment dweller, I mean, hey, come on, now. They should be ashamed of themselves and we should get some relief for the residents. When is it going to happen?

The Member had a couple of different items there in that last question, whether it was a bonus issue or the general rate

application and when there’d be some relief. We haven’t identified a time of relief. All the rate structures and processes in place would require us to go back to the Public Utilities Board.

As for the bonuses in that area, that falls under the authority of the board itself.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If you go by the logic that the Minister uses on power rates and if we wait three years can residents in the Northwest Territories...Let’s say oil stays at $40 a barrel. Will residents three years from now see a 30 percent to 40 percent decrease in their power rates? I don’t think so. Like I said, we run the Power Corporation. The people of the Northwest Territories own that power corporation and if we’re not going to do anything about it, nobody is.

I’d like to ask the Minister if he will instruct the NWT Power Corporation to cease these bonuses that are paid to their senior staff and roll rates back now that oil’s at $40 a barrel.

The Member continues to use today’s price as to why the general rate application was put through. The fact is the purchase of the fuel at the time was much higher than today’s environment. We cannot compare those two. That would not be doing justice to the issue that residents face in the Northwest Territories. We do see the power as a very serious one in the Northwest Territories. That is why the discussion paper has gone out about the rate distribution and the subsidy that is in place. Also, through this budget process that will be in front of Members to look at alternative energies and how we get that in place to help the cost of living issues in the Northwest Territories.

There are a number of things that this government and the Assembly itself is looking at to try to stabilize rates or find a way of lowering them and try to come up with some solution. As I have committed, if there are rate riders in place, depending on which communities to see when we might meet that target, I can get back to Members as to when some of those might be able to be dropped off.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

The community of Deline has been asking and been getting some support from the territorial government in terms of pursuing a mini-hydro project in the mouth of Bear River. It’s

been a fact that eight communities rely on hydro development along the highway system. There are 23 diesel communities. So far what I’ve heard from the Minister of Finance when he addresses these two communities that are in his address that list Lutselk’e and Whati as diesel communities that would look at alternative power in that community.

I want to ask the lead Minister in the Energy Coordinating Committee, is Deline getting the same kind of continued support in terms of being one of the diesel communities that are off the highway system to get continued support to look at the possibility of having a mini-hydro plant at Deline?

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Energy Initiatives, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can assure the Member from Sahtu that we have provided for funding to look at providing mini-hydro in the Sahtu at both Deline and Tulita and it is in the detail of the budget that the Minister of Finance read out.

As the Minister has indicated, I would certainly add support to continue with our hydro development on the Bear River. We know right now today as it stands that the Bear River dam is probably not a very good project to put on the table in terms of our people with respect to the pipeline, but the other issue is the Deline mini-hydro project. I know this project has been in the books with Deline and the government 16 years and yet we’re not seeing too much of the standing stages in terms of construction of the Deline mini-hydro.

I would ask the Minister if he could sit down again with the Deline people and this government and put some real dollars so that we can see a mini-hydro plant within the life of this government at Deline.

The NWT Energy Corporation, with the support from Department of ITI, has been working with the community of Deline in conducting feasibility studies for a mini-hydro project. Funding was provided this year to the community and the issue seems to be coming up with a viable project proposal. The community of Deline, as the Member knows, has been looking at a hydrokinetic proposal. The issue seems to be whether the scale of the project that’s being proposed, whether the technology is proven to allow it to go forward.

The Minister is very correct in terms of the viability of this UEK turbine for use on the Bear River. Deline is looking at 200 kilowatts. The UEK turbine tested, I understand, could be a possibility. That’s been tested at the University of

Manitoba is my understanding. Deline, as of January 2009, has found two locations, one in Mississippi in the United States and one in B.C., that could look at this technology as being viable for the community of Deline at this location. The numbers seem right by this company in B.C.

Can the Minister commit to have his people go into Deline to sit down and work out their differences, to sit down and say we can have a work plan in terms of having a mini-hydro project in Deline? Can the Minister commit that to me in the House?