Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for many years the Northwest Territories has needed an overall guiding plan for generating and distributing electrical power. At a public meeting on October 26th, the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, who is also the Minister responsible for Transparency and Public Engagement, missed an opportunity. He had a chance to share with MLAs, and the people of the NWT, the government's broad vision for NTPC.

An overarching vision is what is needed, Mr. Speaker. But what we heard was a technical presentation justifying NTPC's claim that it is not overcharging customers. Mr. Speaker, it is important to understand why we pay what we pay for power, but we also need to understand the bigger picture.

A vision for our power system should guide government as we consider the major challenges that face us. The vision must tell us: is NTPC's role to partner with other governments or the private sector? Is it to compete against the private sector? Or is NTPC going to be a monopoly, the only game in town? Mr. Speaker, I know that the new NWT Energy Plan is going to answer some of these questions, but clearly the government has already adopted certain assumptions. Otherwise, decisions like bidding on the Hay River power franchise or engaging in talks with SaskPower would not have already been made.

Mr. Speaker, the plan needs to be open and transparent, and it hasn't been. We don't know the underlying assumptions being made by the Power Corporation. The public is looking to us for leadership. No family, community or business should pay more than is necessary. No one should feel like they're paying more than their fair share. We have a responsibility to set a direction that is in the best interest of everyone, and not let rate payers be used as pawns in games that serve some unknown agenda.

Mr. Speaker, as a Crown Corporation owned by Northerners, NTPC must clearly state its mission and vision: what it is, where it is going and how it will get there. Later, I will have questions for the Minister Responsible for the Power Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.