Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is helpful advice. One thing I would like to mention is that the Minister referred to the need for sound administration as a desirable factor before a new council is elected. Having met recently with the municipal advisory committee, I think there is a desire there because there is a good deal of lead time required to advertise, interview, short list, et cetera, potential candidates for the senior administrative officer job. I think there is quite an openness to continuing to work with Mr. Beaumont even after an election in order to ensure there is a good continuity and a transition period that is carefully planned. I would like to inform the Minister that, one of the ways a sound administration could be assured would be if Mr. Beaumont could still be made available to the community even after an election might be called. I think that is something the Minister can do, which is to allow him to continue working through an election and with a newly elected council, and then to oversee, with his experience and his knowledge of the problems, the hiring of a replacement for himself.

The other thing I would like to mention is that I believe the Minister will, in relatively short order, get a formal recommendation from the municipal advisory committee on the timing of an election. I think it will be in the direction of an early election.

Mr. Chairman, about the Minister's comments for a need for an operational evaluation, I can accept this, but I would like to note that there has been a great deal of evaluating undergone in Iqaluit in the last 12 or 18 months. I have seen a very detailed report done by the department which raised questions and flagged some of the problems that led to the council's dissolution. I would venture to say that Mr. Beaumont, since he has been working as the municipal administrator, has probably, in effect, been doing an ongoing operational evaluation of the municipality just as part of his job. I have no problems with an operational review, but I hope that, in light of all the work that has been done to date and the fact that the Minister's appointee has been there now for three or four months, leaving no stone unturned, does this operational evaluation need to be an elaborate, time consuming process, or can it build on the work that I suspect has already been done? Is that a major time consumer, that kind of an evaluation, or could it be done quickly if it is determined that an early election is desirable? Thank you.