Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Monday when the Committee of the Whole considered the Legislative Assembly's capital budget, I raised some important questions about the process used to tender furniture requirements for the new Legislative Assembly building. Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on this process today, and in particular on the decision to waive the five per cent bid adjustment for local content during the evaluation of these tenders.

As most honourable Members will be aware, our Business Incentive Policy provides for a tender adjustment of 15 per cent for northern content. It also provides for an additional five per cent tender adjustment for local content, unless otherwise specified in the contract documents. Mr. Speaker, my concern this afternoon is that the Minister decided to waive the local content adjustment on this tender. It does not seem right that decisions about whether to waive certain parts of the Business Incentive Policy are made without a set of specific guidelines. Without them, northern businesses are left frustrated and wondering whether unfair advantage has been given to other bidders. It is important for the Minister to ensure consistency in the application of the Business Incentive Policy. A decision to waive the five per cent local preference adjustment in one case, will be seen by the business community as a precedent to be considered in other tenders. If the government is going to establish such incentives in its policies only to waive them at a later time, then why have them there at all?

Mr. Speaker, I will be calling on the Minister of Public Works to provide this House with some clarification of the rationale for his decisions with regard to the furniture tender for the Legislative Assembly building. I will also be asking the Minister to develop a set of specific criteria, detailing the circumstances under which tender adjustment requirements are to be waived. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.