Mr. Speaker, on May 11, 2016, the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation announced that the GNWT would examine options for the future governance of the NTPC. As a first step, responsible Minister Louis Sebert revoked the appointments of the NTPC public board of directors and appointed a new board made up of GNWT deputy ministers. A press release issued that day said, "Appointing deputy ministers to the board will eliminate approximately $1-million cost annually." Minister Sebert was also quoted as saying, "The decision is a part of our government's broader work to address the cost of living. The GNWT continues to provide a significant level of direct financial support to NTPC, and the Auditor General has recently changed its accounting classification to recognize its more direct relationship to the government. Given these factors, it's worth examining governance options for the corporation."
When the 19th Assembly took office, the deputy ministers who were no longer working for the GNWT also ceased to serve on this NTPC board of directors. They were replaced on the board by a fresh crop of DMs late last year. On February 5th, the current Minister responsible for NTPC told this House, "They are actually not deputy ministers sitting on the board. They are actually regular people in there, working together with government with the Power Corporation."
Mr. Speaker, the last time "regular people" served on the NTPC board of directors was in 2016 when the government dissolved the public board. Under the previous government, deputy ministers were put on the NTPC board for a specific purpose, which was to carry out the task of determining government's options for the NTPC on behalf of the GNWT.
What I would like to know and what the people of NWT deserve to know is: what work has been done in this? Later today, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.