Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Public. Works and it has to do with the application of the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op to receive status under the BIP. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister knows, the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op is 100 per cent northern owned and operated. It provides competition to OK Economy and keeps the price of food down in Yellowknife, to the benefit of everyone.
The Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op has been refused BIP status since 1988 because there is a clause in BIP that says a northern supplier must be accessible to the general public. My question to the Minister is, why was that clause put into BIP criteria and how does that relate to Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op?