Nobody is suggesting for one minute that there is no requirement for reasonable safety standards. None, whatsoever. But I think, to a person, on the committee, everybody felt that, particularly in relation to the Fire Marshal, they seemed, if you will excuse the expression, almost out of control. They were buzzing around the communities, telling people they have to meet these new standards, et cetera. We have 30 years of buildings in the Northwest Territories. We cannot solve all the upgrading problems in 30 days. We particularly cannot solve them in these difficult financial times. So there is a concern that perhaps there was a lack of appreciation for the total environment that we live in. You put a uniform on these guys and they get carried away, if I can be a little flippant. I believe we refer to them in the Keewatin as 'Inspector Gadget." However, at the risk of being somewhat flippant, this is a serious issue, but the fact of the matter is that I do not think there was one single person on the standing committee on finance who had not had some difficulties, that in some of the things that were, perhaps, being asked, the total environment and the conditions we all operate under were not taken into consideration, I guess. Clearly there is a need. There is nobody suggesting for one minute that we want anything to happen to anybody and we do not want standards, but it is the way in which we approach the changes that are necessary. It was the general feeling among Members on the standing committee on finance that, rather than working in harmony with government or with the private sector, it was more an antagonistic, confrontational situation that was taking place, and that there should be a recognition that Rome was not built in a day, and neither was the Northwest Territories, and we are not going to change some of these buildings overnight. It was having a serious impact on the capital budget, because a number of Ministers that came forward used the Fire Marshal as the bogey man, as the cabinet sometimes does when we talk about the Auditor General. "The Fire Marshal says we have to do this; therefore, we have got to expend it."
There is a perception, whether it is real or not I do not know, that there is a limited appeal mechanism in place, if the Fire Marshal or the fire chief comes into the community or into your building and says, "This has to happen,' or "That has to happen." So that was another concern, and that was the reason for this motion. Probably I will have the Fire Marshal at my door tomorrow. But anyway, the fact of the matter is that, clearly, on a number of occasions, the capital budget was being driven by the Fire Marshal's request to upgrade, meet certain standards, et cetera. The financial resources are simply not available to do some of them. Hence the reason for the motion.