Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As this House well knows, the Town of Hay River has decided several years ago to seek other providers for the franchise in Hay River. Currently, that matter has gone to arbitration to determine the price. So evaluators are being hired and, ultimately, the arbitrator will make a decision as to price.

That, of course, is only for the Hay River franchise. My understanding is that the other franchise arrangements that ATCO and Northland has will not be affected by that, but we believe that, assuming a reasonable valuation of the assets comes in and is provided to the arbitrator, that ultimately the price of power in Hay River will decline. Thank you.

In the meantime, communities remain uncertain in terms of the fate of the assets that perhaps could affect the price of electricity that is delivered into the homes, so communities are asking what resources are available to help community governments understand their power franchise agreements and how they work?

If there are other franchise agreements, as I understand there are, they are subject to negotiation between the parties. I am assuming the municipal governments that entered into these arrangements did the proper research. Of course, ultimately, decisions are made by the public utilities board.

Thank you to the Minister for his reply. Can the Minister describe the Government of the Northwest Territories' working relationship with Northland Utilities?

The Government of the Northwest Territories does recognize that Northland Utilities is a good corporate citizen. I can advise that the Premier and I did have the opportunity of meeting with senior management of Northland and ATCO, I think it was a couple of months ago. It was an amicable meeting, and we have a good relationship with them.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question is: what role does the government envision for Northland Utilities in the future of power supply in the NWT? Mahsi.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Northland was involved in the energy strategy. I understand they made submissions and had meetings with the government. As to what will take place in the future, that is to be determined. We do recognize that they are a good corporate citizen. We value their participation in the energy industry.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Masi. Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency.

No, we haven't.

Thank you to the Minister. I'm thankful that we don't have a position because I didn't know about it and I don't think my honourable friends know about it as well.

Does the Minister feel that this is a discussion that we could bring forth to Northerners? Certainly, there are fewer constitutional challenges with proportional representation or alternative voting here in our jurisdiction. So is the Minister considering public engagement on democratic reform in the Northwest Territories?

As the Prime Minister found out, this is a real jungle. For hundreds of years we've had the first-past-the-post system, and I think it's served us quite well. I don't think the government wants to engage in that sort of massive overhaul of the voting system.

Well, Mr. Speaker, there's a big difference between a system that encompasses 34 million Canadians and a system that encompasses 40,000 Northerners. I think that we have options here, and national opinion polls show that the majority of Canadians want to engage in this discussion; they want to be consulted. This is an area I think that we've seen a lot of attention. So given that the Minister's job in this portfolio is open government, can he commit to at least starting to look at a discussion paper that could be shared with Members on this side of the House and with members of the public on options for democratic reform in the Northwest Territories?

This is a very busy government. All of the MLAs are very busy. People may want reform, but there doesn't seem to be any obvious solution in the sense that when asked people have many different ideas about what a new system of voting could look like, and I just don't think that this government feels that changing the current system, which has worked well for many years, would be a high priority or a priority at all.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister sits on the Standing Committee of Rules and Procedures; they're currently looking at a report that recommends 43 changes to our electoral system. Is the Minister saying that he categorically refuses to acknowledge any of those recommendations and will not be proceeding with any of those changes, or is he only talking about proportional representation?

I think it's clear he answers that question. I'm not asking him to be the Prime Minister of Canada here and address a national concern; I'm asking him to address issues here at home. We do have this report and he has seen it; he's certainly on that committee. So can he answer if he accepts that report, some of the -- and how much of that report he accepts? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there can always be changes to and improvements in the manner in which we conduct voting in the Northwest Territories. The change that I think is suggested by the Member opposite would, I think, tie up the Assembly to such an extent that it would not be worth the effort.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I mentioned in my Member's statement, the cancelled Aurora College program contained specific content that was inclusive of northern communities and our cultures. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister believe that sending students to southern schools for training and social work can replace the crucial cultural content that's important for working in northern communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I don't. Any students who go through our current education system go through an Aboriginal language culture-based education, so they get all the relevant information, the experiences, on-the-land programs, languages in their schools and their communities, and anyone who hasn't received it and comes back to the Northwest Territories GNWT does also have a cultural awareness program through the Human Resources Department. As well, we do have teacher cultural orientation days that our department has made mandatory to anybody who comes and works for the department of ECE. That includes southerners who have never been in the North before, and it's mandatory. You learn about residential school experiences, the education system. So we're preparing our teachers and our workers for the communities that they will be working in.

Currently, we do have 19 Northerners who are attending the social work program out of the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.