Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that to my information there's 150 individual insurers that are licensed under the Insurance Act. As for what each or every one of them may or may not be doing with increasing rates, I don't have that information. The Insurance Act gives me the ability -- or gives the department the ability to regulate but not necessarily to control the commercial side of what these organizations do. That said, Mr. Speaker, we are, as a government, a member of a number of different groups across Canada, and rates are rising across the country so can certainly say...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I don't know if I have that level of detail. Let me see if the deputy minister maybe can, and if not, we will look to pull up -- sorry, it's where the $12 million came from or where it's being applied? It's going to be applied on to -- to the costs -- the ratepayers' costs but it's where it's coming from, I'll see if the deputy minister may have that handy.

Please, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, it really is quite literally the role of the public utilities board to conduct the general application, and it is a fairly extensive and detailed process that is undertaken when they have to put in literally every single cost that is incurred, and it is analyzed, and there is a determination as to whether those costs are reasonable or not, and then the PUB sets, again, a reasonable -- a range of reasonableness of what the utility's permitted to make back in terms of their rate of return. That rate of return from the GNWT's side, Mr. Chair, we haven't taken a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, again, it's -- perhaps let me see if the deputy minister wants to take a go at sort of explaining this end of it. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I'm going to send that to the deputy minister who will be able to speak to that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, typically if the vehicle comes in under $50,000, then we wouldn't necessarily have to see it coming in here. That's the threshold for having to come in on a capital -- as a capital project or a capital item. So with the cost of vehicles rising, and particularly if they're specialized vehicles like the ambulance in Behchoko that was in one of the earlier items here today, then that does need to come in through an infrastructure budget item. I hope that answers the question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, yes, it absolutely will be fully reflected in what goes to the PUB. Again, I just wasn't sure if it's been filed or on the public register or not. And, you know, yeah, I want to let folks know, because I do think it came out that everyone's power rates are going up 25 percent, and that's just not -- that's not going to be the case. That's not even the worst case scenario. That's just simply not how it's going to go down. But I don't know the final dollar value. This $12 million and the proposed $12 million over four that's being put forward by the government will have...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on my left, deputy minister of finance Bill MacKay; and on my right, Mandi Bolstad, the deputy secretary to the financial management board.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, Mr. Chair, I mean, obviously I appreciate colleagues acknowledging that -- because the public doesn't realize that in this system we go through all of these materials with -- relevant Ministers will appear with colleagues at AOC confidentially to go through so that everyone's prepared, and questions -- I've had everything asked for -- sometimes people don't like to ask their questions because it's much more dramatic to ask them here. Sometimes they ask their questions and gives us the chance to bring materials. And, Mr. Chair, in this case, I did not have this...