Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I asked both the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Works about implementing policies that would allow only northern-owned and operated businesses to bid on government contracts. The implementation of such a policy is consistent with a motion passed by this House on April 11, 1990. As we are all aware, that motion was proposed by the Ministers of Finance and Public Works when they were ordinary Members of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about what I am now hearing from the Minister of Public Works, my good friend Don Morin. The Minister now talks about developing a plan to train northern people, allowing Northerners to do these jobs, and other initiatives. However, the Minister has also told this House that the policy under consideration does not allow only northern businesses to bid on government contracts. This is in stark contrast to the discussions that took place when the "tender north only" motion was adopted by this House. As the honourable Member for Hay River said at that time, "If we do not take the bull by the horns and make a decision that is absolute, then we are going to continue to have these holes that these contracts trickle through."
The leakage of government dollars from the NWT is incredible.
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When we try to stop these leaks by adjusting and fine-tuning current policies, we are just plugging the holes with our fingers. Pretty soon we are going to run out of fingers to use.
I am sure the Minister has been given many reasons why we cannot institute this policy by his officials in the department, but this is a decision to be made by the politicians, not by the bureaucrats. There will be some political risks attached to this policy, and I would suggest that these risks are worth taking. We do not need 20 reasons why we cannot do the policy; we need one reason why we should do the policy.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has already told this House that he is committed to this principle of "tender north only." I would suggest the Minister of Public Works reaffirm his commitment to this principle and bring forward a policy that reflects the same. Thank you.
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