Whether this required shifts in priority to fund it, or new revenue initiatives, it should have been in the budget.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address a few issues, more specific to departments than the broad budget, that are areas of concern to me. I think all Members of this House have some concern about the number of initiatives that the government seems to be taking on and whether or not the resources are available to complete them. For instance, the reorganization and amalgamation that is taking place in the Financial Management Board Secretariat. It is now a much larger agency and it may be trying to do too much. Here's a clear example: After hearing an extensive presentation a year ago about what was planned over the course of the next few years, this year we were told that the program evaluation task will not be expanded.

Mr. Koe just pointed out that it is very important to have program evaluation. It is something that the Standing Committee on Finance and Members of this House have been harping on for the last three and a half years. Something like program evaluation not being expanded really causes me concern because as times get tougher fiscally, we need a good tool that will help us decide what programs deliver the best value for money spent. The program evaluation task could have helped ensure that we make the right choices. Now, we don't have that tool.

Another area that I think we're going to have to take a look at has to do with contracts. Again, this has to do with the fiscal climate that we face. The government is currently undertaking a review of the business incentive policy and I think we're really going to have to take a look at it closely. Is it needed in all areas of the Northwest Territories? Does it do today what it was supposed to do? Does it meet the original intent? I'm not so sure that it does. I understand what the original intention was and I think it was something that was important. If it is decided that it is still an effective tool for business development in the Northwest Territories, then I think it is imperative that we provide full disclosure of evaluations under the business incentive policy. These are public funds that we're expending; we must show the public why the decisions are being made.

Another area we're going to have to examine, as the fiscal climate gets tighter, is the number of contracts, especially large contracts, not being publicly tendered. Mr. Speaker, there's a need for balance. I recognize that negotiated contracts may be worthwhile in some places but I would like to point out that other than through public tenders, there is no way to ensure you're getting the best value for money. There is always a risk, no matter how good a department estimate is that the negotiated price will be higher than might have been obtained through a tender. Another concern is the capacity of the company to do the job. We have had some expensive failures. While the risk may be judged acceptable for some projects, I am concerned about taking that risk with some of the larger projects. Mr. Speaker, it's hard to buy the Public Works and Services argument that they check companies thoroughly, when we have had some expensive failures.

Another thing that we have to take into account is the long-term effect on existing businesses. Can the north support all of the businesses that we might be developing? Perhaps we could write provisions into tendered contracts to ensure that there are local or northern benefits, or perhaps we should only tender to northern companies. As money gets tighter and tighter we may be forced back to the tender process, in any case, to ensure that we get the maximum value for dollars. Only then, Mr. Speaker, we may find that there are no northern companies left to do the job.

Mr. Speaker, another area I would like to address is the revenue initiatives in the budget. I understand the need for revenue initiatives and I am generally supportive of the ones in this budget. But there's one that I have had some calls about and I expressed some concerns about in Standing Committee on Finance, and that is the Health and Social Services co-payment increase to $250 for a return trip. Mr. Speaker, this revenue initiative hits those who can least afford it the most. I think it is a very unfair way to raise revenue. The people who are most penalized are the working poor, especially someone who must receive a series of treatments down south. I would like to point out that it's much more than an inflationary increase, this is an increase that goes two and a half times its current level. It's also discriminatory. The numbers of people, we are told, who will be affected are small but I'd have to question, has this government lost sight of the need to care for the individual? How can we justify a measure that will seriously impact a segment of the population by saying, well, it only affects a small percentage. I'd like to point out that in the Yukon and in Manitoba, there's currently no co-payment charge for emergency services if you have to medevaced south. I will be strongly supporting the Standing Committee on Finance recommendation for a cap on these co-payments but would also like to urge the government to reconsider. For the amount of total funds that this revenue initiative will raise, I'd like to strongly suggest that it be reconsidered totally.

Generally speaking, Mr. Speaker, I think that the budget is a reasonable document. As I said earlier, my one concern is that it does represent a deficit and I think that we should not be introducing deficit budgets. I think that too often we run the risk of unforeseen events throughout the course of the year causing us to get into problems. Starting out with a plan to go into a deficit is not the best way to go. I'm looking forward to hearing from the Minister of Finance when he meets with the Standing Committee on Finance to talk about what he might see as possible changes. I would encourage him to take a look at this budget again and see if there aren't ways in which we could reallocate some funds, perhaps reallocate some priorities, perhaps make some changes, and make sure that we don't drive up the deficit this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause