It must have come as a big surprise to some of his colleagues then to go in the face of government policy. On
Monday, the Minister appeared before the Committee of the Whole to present the Legislative Assembly's capital budget. At that time it was indicated that in expectation of the Management and Services Board, the board would remain at arm's length, and I quote, "the tendering process followed would be the normal government tendering process". Recognizing that the Management and Services Board anticipated that the normal government tendering process was to be followed, is it the department's position that waiving the five per cent local preference provision is a part of this normal process?