Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, one could say the reason that legislation was adopted by the previous government was to protect the residents of the Northwest Territories. For example, if the Power Corporation itself, which is fully regulated by the PUB…. I must say, on the PUB side their voice is being heard through this process, as the Minister responsible seeks their input in some of the work he brings to the table. That aside, the rate structure, or the structure that was put into place around the hydro corporation side of things, was done in a way that would minimize impact on the rate base or the...

Mr. Speaker, the information that this has been filed has been put before the Public Utilities Board. They’re reviewing the information, and if they have concerns or questions with that, there’ll be further requests for backup information. Let’s be clear. The reason the rate rider has gone in is because it’s money spent. It’s not money that is about to be spent. We have already paid for a product that was higher than today’s price, and that is something that the Power Corporation is having to recover from.

Mr. Speaker, as we go through this process of developing the paper that we can bring forward to Members and looking at the option of what the Power Corporation is, how we deliver energy in the Northwest Territories, rate structures, regulation… There are a whole number of areas: the subsidy program itself, as well as what the Member has requested. I will take that message back to the energy coordinating committee and look to see how that can be implemented. We’ve had discussion about the distribution structure review. In a sense, as we go through these next steps, we as Members of this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the act itself there are certain arrangements that we work with. Even as the Minister responsible, there is a framework that I have to operate within in dealing with the board itself. The Public Utilities Board actually is one of the things that is reviewed, because that is part of the rate base and how they pay out those areas. The term being used with the Power Corporation is “at-risk system,” and the PUB, in fact, recommended that that level be reduced the last time it went forward.

Mr. Speaker, there are some partnerships that have been formed, so the Power Corporation is involved in those. Are we seeking beyond that at this point? When I met with the Power Corporation board, the chairman as well, I stated that it’s something we have to pursue. The Government of the Northwest Territories side of it as well as the Power Corporation needs to pursue partnerships out there to come up with options. We shouldn’t always put our eggs in the basket of the federal government, for example.

As we have in other cases looked at other jurisdictions, what they have done in the past…. Some jurisdictions have gone to deregulation, which got rid of their equivalent to the Public Utilities Board.

In our case, being a small jurisdiction, that would bring that decision-making to this table. I think Members will be under huge pressure — from the diversity of the territory and our constituents — in trying to deal with the Power Corporation rates in communities and management of that corporation. All we have to do is look at some of our other delivery mechanisms within the Government of...

Mr. Speaker, the partnership question is one where, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have to open the door on it more. In fact, there are already a number of partnerships that have been formed with the Power Corporation; ffor example, on some of our hydro facilities with aboriginal companies and corporations in the Northwest Territories. But if we’re going to go and look at the hydro strategy that’s been put before the Members, if we’re going to invest in that in the Northwest Territories, we’re going to have to partner up with companies that have deep pockets and as well...

Mr. Speaker, those types of reports have been dusted off and brought into this process. We don’t want to redo things and re-create things for further review; it’s taking the work that has been done. There were some substantial recommendations. Some of them have been acted on, but there are definitely more things that could be looked at as we progress here in the Northwest Territories, talking about next steps we would like to take. Reports like that are part of the review process.

Mr. Speaker, the process that is in place right now is one, again, where the rate structure that’s in place is one the PUB operates under. We’ve heard one of the Members talk about community rate zones or postage stamp areas. In the last process when that issue was discussed, the Public Utilities Board stated that it would be up to the Assembly to decide what structures would be put in place. We couldn’t say for ourselves that we could direct the Power Corporation to lower rates in hydro communities alone. We would have to look at a structure through this forum here and decide if we want to...

Mr. Speaker, again, this area hasn’t been brought up to the same working level as the other strategic initiatives. We haven’t got the terms of reference. So that type of thing has not been looked at, at this stage. The Refocusing Government piece is looking at delivery and how we work with boards and agencies, but on the actual program delivery side this piece hasn’t been put into action as of yet. I’ll commit to Members that as we get this piece up and running, we’ll be sitting down with Members to give them what it’s starting to look like and get their input.