Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is budget time again. This year we are faced with an unprecedented financial situation. All northerners are concerned about the deficit, Mr. Speaker. Measures such as the payroll tax, the new staff housing policy, even if they cannot be refined and made workable, will not address the entire problem. Northerners also face the unequal distribution of government money to all the territories. Excesses exist in some regions, as some are being paid with funds that should have been allocated to others. Mr. Speaker, this Assembly is going to have to take a serious look at how to bring about better use of the dollar. Sooner or later, we are going to have to face difficult decisions about spending cuts.
I have often wondered what Members from the Baffin and Keewatin must think when they see $700,000 going to pay for a service each year that is not all that effective and is not a priority for the people in my region. Think of what could be done in those off-road communities with that $2 million, Mr. Speaker. I am sure that I do not have to remind the current Minister that, on March 6, 1992,...