Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to make a few comments on Bill 6. I am going to be supporting this bill, basically because what the public wants is access to information so that the government will be more accountable and more open, and are the position that I think everybody in this Legislative Assembly took three years ago when we started. We wanted a more open government, and one of the ways of doing it is to have a bill such as this introduced in this House. It's the first bill of its kind. I understand that it was attempted in the past legislation but it did not succeed, but at this time, I think there are enough people here supporting it that it will probably pass. I think it is good for the people in the communities. There are people who are concerned with government. There is a perception out there that government is not providing all the information that it should, and I agree with that. This government is to provide programs and services to people in the communities, and decisions and policies are made, and are not shared with the people who we are supposed to be serving. As a result of that, a bill such as this has been asked for so that information that the government holds will be accessible to people in the communities. If that is one way of doing it, then I would support it.
There's a cost attached to it. I understand that it is quite substantial, and the Minister did say that they will look at it, and the bill itself isn't really hard and fast on that. There is a provision for a Commissioner to be put in place, whether it be full time or part time. That sort of thing can be worked out. It will be two years before that could happen, so we have plenty of time to deal with that.
In closing, I just want to say that there's a price for democracy, and if the price is $1 million a year or perhaps even $500,000 a year, if that's what it takes for community people to have this access to information, then I will support it. Mahsi.