My question is about retroactive compensation for consumers who have carried the costs of tank storage charges. I recognize that your initiative will look after the future, but what about the past?

My question is what does the Minister consider a fair method to compensate the consumers in my constituency who have been unfairly carrying the costs of fuel tank storage charges of the government, through the purchases of POL products, over the past several years?

The question is to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Mr. Speaker, since my election I have corresponded and discussed with the Minister on several occasions the matter of excessive pricing in my constituency. The Minister has recognized the problem and has committed to rectifying it. In fact, I learned over the course of this weekend that his department has put into effect a temporary 11 cents per litre reduction in gasoline, heating oil and diesel prices, effective today for Cambridge, Bathurst and Umingmaktok.

---Applause

I acknowledge and thank the Minister for his initiative to address the excessive POL costs in my constituency. My question to the Minister is when will he be putting in a permanent fair pricing of POL products to all NWT communities, in order to eliminate or minimize the regional disparities in the Northwest Territories?

Mr. Speaker, there is no apparent reason for the excessive POL pricing in the Kitikmeot compared to other regions in the NWT, with the exception of the GNWT unfairly passing on tank storage charges to consumers in Cambridge Bay.

Mr. Speaker, I'll be addressing this matter later on during question period. Mahsi.

---Applause

I seek unanimous consent to complete my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT supplies fuel to 44 of our communities. In most of those communities, the GNWT owns the bulk fuel storage facilities. However, in at least one community, Cambridge Bay, a private company owns the bulk fuel storage facility. This company charges the GNWT a storage fee for POL products in order to receive a return on their capital investment. These storage charges are added by the Department of Public Works and Services to the POL prices paid by consumers. In all other communities, where the government has spent millions of dollars in capital investments to establish and maintain their tank farms, no charges for the capital cost are factored into the POL prices paid by consumers. Mr. Speaker, this is an unacceptable and unfair situation. The GNWT, by passing on their storage fees, has created an inequity by passing on the responsibility to provide bulk fuel storage facilities in Cambridge Bay. Based on the GNWT's POL retail price list of November 1, 1992, Cambridge Bay and Bathurst Inlet consumers pay 95 cents a litre for gasoline. We share this distinction with residents of Snare Lake, as having the highest price in the NWT and possibly North America.

Mr. Speaker, the Kitikmeot region pays the highest cost of fuel oil products in the entire Northwest Territories. The average litre price for gasoline and heating oil in the NWT,-- again based on those GNWT retail price lists of November 1, 1992,-- per region is as follows: for gasoline, the Baffin averages 66.8 cents per litre, the Keewatin is 72.4 cents, the Inuvik region is 73.1 cents, in Fort Smith it's 76 cents and in the Kitikmeot it is 86 cents a litre; for heating oil, the Baffin is 59 cents, the Keewatin and Inuvik and at 63 cents, Fort Smith 65 cents and the Kitikmeot is 73.8 cents.

Four to five communities paying over 90 cents per litre for gasoline in the NWT are from Kitikmeot. Six out of the nine communities paying over 70 cents a litre for heating oil are from the Kitikmeot.

The questions are: How many out-of-court settlements for lawsuits in which the GNWT has been a defendant have been negotiated since October 1991 and can the Minister provide a list detailing the plaintiffs, the amounts of the settlements and the grounds for the lawsuits? How many

current, active court cases is the GNWT involved in as a defendant and what are the grounds and the amounts of the plaintiffs' claims? At what stage is each court case involving the GNWT as a defendant? Finally, will the Minister provide me with an assessment of which cases are likely to proceed to trial and which are likely to settle, and for these cases that are likely to settle, can the Minister provide me with the total dollar exposure to the GNWT as a result of these possible settlements?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question is to the Honourable Minister of Justice. However, he is unavailable right now so I would like to direct the question to Madam Premier. Mr. Speaker, there are five questions relating to the same topic. Is that appropriate?

My question would be, does the Minister have the time frame to develop a policy on this?