Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Every year it seems to me that the Commissioner's Address gets shorter and the Budget Address, which used to run for 30 or 40 pages, is now down to four. I do not know whether that is a good sign or a bad sign of the times.

However, Mr. Speaker, I would like to say few things about the new process. I think it is always refreshing to find that we are doing something new. This certainly is a change in the way in which we go about planning our capital projects. It has been talked about now for as long as I can remember. When you have a budget session in the winter and you are still talking about it in April, then it gives very little time for people in the construction business and in the expediting business to get materials to communities so that work can proceed in a normal fashion in the fall. I believe that the Minister should be congratulated for taking this initiative. I know that every time you try to turn the ship around to make a big change it puts a tremendous burden on the Minister and the bureaucrats who have been used to doing something the same way for a long time. He has to be congratulated on making that change.

I would note, Mr. Speaker, that this problem has been with us for a very long time. When Frobisher came to Iqaluit many years ago, he had the same problem. He arrived very late in fall with a whole bunch of prefabricated materials on board, and he found that before he could get the things up, winter had set in and people were very unhappy. It has taken us a long time to learn this lesson. I am glad that this Minister at least has decided to do something about it.

Mr. Speaker, I also note that the plan attempts to nail down something very definite over a period of time. This also is to be commended but from my experience and the past attempts of every government I have known, setting down a very definite capital plan is doomed. It is almost impossible. Even if you get things set up properly, with the proper lead time, etc. it is very difficult to set down a very definite capital plan. Communities should be aware of that. There are still some uncertainties which we are going to have to live with.

Mr. Speaker, for many years the people who ran the Department of Public Works really resisted the idea that capital projects should involve components for training, northern manufacturer, local involvement, etc., simply because they were given a mandate to build something as cheaply as possible, bring it in on time and not mess around with all the other stuff. It has taken a long time to change that and I am happy to see that this is also being done now. You are going to use this as a kind of an attempt to help boost the economy, to try to help develop a trained labour force, which is a critical factor for us, and you are going to try to make some in-roads in doing a small amount of northern manufacturing.

If those three things can be done, Mr. Speaker, even though this is a very short budget address, it will be a worthwhile accomplishment. However, one caution, Mr. Speaker. In the 10th Assembly there was an orgy of spending, just before the election. An orgy of spending. They used up a tremendous amount of our capital surplus in order to satisfy Members in this House. I hope the Minister will remember that when he says we are going to have no boom and bust, we are going to have a stable attempt to develop a capital program, that we will be watching, at least I will, in the last year of the term of this Assembly. Thank you.