Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree with Mr. Antoine, I think it is a good policy. It has certainly brought a tremendous amount of increased benefits to the smaller communities, the more remote outlying regions. To be able to negotiate many of the contracts they have, there is a couple of concerns. One is, there is no access sometimes by other contractors that feel they may be able to do the same type of work, but do not have an opportunity to demonstrate that. You also have a concern about whether or not we are getting a fair return for our public dollars expended. It will be interesting to see how communities and regions and what policies they would adopt if we gave them the ability to control capital expenditures within their respective regions, and whether they would follow the same policies or not at this time. At this time I think, as controversial as it is, it has been the position of this government that negotiated contracts are in the public interest and we will continue to do that for some time in the future. Thank you.
Stephen Kakfwi on Item 3: Election Of Premier
On December 10th, 1998. See this statement in context.
Item 3: Election Of Premier
Item 3: Election Of Premier
December 9th, 1998
Page 12
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