gnwt? john todd? atco? i'm dizzy? je ne sais quoi?

Even though he retired from territorial politics nearly 10 years ago, John Todd still has the ear of many in the North and Ottawa, say those who have hired him as a consultant.

And while he has worked for the territorial government and ATCO in the past year, both parties say he is not involved in ATCO's proposal to merge with the government-owned Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

"I don't think he'll be involved in negotiations," said Jerome Babyn, ATCO spokesperson, who acknowledged Todd had worked for the company off-and-on for a number of years.

However, Babyn said Todd could be useful because of his ties to the North.

"Certainly, Mr. Todd, wherever he has contacts with people, if he can be helpful in that regard, then certainly we will ask him to introduce us to certain people if need be," said Babyn.

In the past year and a half, Todd has provided consulting advice to cabinet members, like Premier Floyd Roland and Finance Minister Michael Miltenberger.

Since taking over as Premier, Floyd Roland has flown to Edmonton at least twice for "strategic advisors" meetings with Todd.

John Todd Holdings Inc. received $72,000 from the government during the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Roland said he's been meeting with Todd since he was finance minister in the 15th Legislative Assembly.

"The fact that he's been in government in the past, he's made his connections with key people in the system," said Roland.

"When it comes to the work that we had him do, there are times that when he's working with other companies, we've asked him to set up meetings for us and he's done that."

He said Todd was instrumental in saving the government $48 million during the 15th assembly, by setting up meetings in Ottawa, to argue the federal government not adjust its level of financing to the territory on the NWT.

"We've used him for other work and opening doors initially whether in Ottawa or Calgary," he said.

Roland said the government has used Todd's services since it began looking at the ATCO proposal, but he said Todd hasn't been hired to do any work relating to the power corporation.

"Specifically to our own initiative, we have our own team put together to do our reviews," he said.

"It's incumbent on us. We know who he works for."

When contacted May 19, Todd said he had to double-check with ATCO before commenting on his work with the company.

He did not return subsequent phone calls.

Babyn said Todd's experience in the North allows him to introduce ATCO to key influential customers in the North – specifically in the Eastern Arctic with the ATCO Frontec division of the company.

He said ATCO officials still have not sat down with the government for substantive negotiations.

"We've just really had some high-level, really just touch base stuff on that," he said, adding the company's proposal will likely be looked at following the government's energy and power corporation reviews.

Babyn said in April the proposal was basically a starting point for the government and ATCO to meet and discuss what a partnership or merger might look like.

The GNWT's review team reported to Roland with an initial look at the proposal May 25. The document spells out what was discussed and what will be looked at in future meetings.