Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to make a statement about what I perceive to be unfair application of the business incentive policy, by the regional office of the Housing Corporation in Iqaluit. A constituent of mine in Pond Inlet, Simon Merkosak, lost out on a contract to do the electrical work on three houses. He is of Inuit descent, and employs mostly local people in his contracting business.

Mr. Speaker, the reason he lost out on the electrical contract for the three houses in Pond Inlet was that he had to import an NWT journeyman electrician from Montreal --his brother-in-law -- to do the supervising and installation, thereby making his company ineligible for any percentage reduction in his bid under the business incentive policy. In his bid, Mr. Merkosak received no consideration whatsoever under BIP, for any of the factors other than the labour costs involved with the hiring of an electrician.

On the other hand, Mr. Speaker, Kheraj Enterprises of Resolute Bay received the contract to do the work because they beat out Mr. Merkosak only after the BIP was applied to their bid. Kheraj Enterprises received consideration under the BIP program because Kheraj stated in his contract documents that he would be hiring a long-term resident electrician from Yellowknife to do the work. Mr. Speaker, it turned out that the person who did the electrical work was from Newfoundland and was not a long-term northern resident.

Mr. Speaker, I am very concerned about the application of the BIP in this case. If we're going to award contracts, we must make sure that the contractor involved lives up to the commitments made in the successful bid. Mr. Speaker, I will be pursuing the matter further in question period. Thank you.

---Applause