Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As with any other privatization initiative or any other situation where the government buys its services from the private sector, we're assuming that we're going to get competitive costs, competitive services. However, we don't just base the assessment of the cost on the amount of money that we're spending on the actual contractual arrangements. There are also spin-off benefits to the economy of having these services provided by the private sector and by increasing the capacity, in some of the communities, to provide those services to other members of the public. In the case of Inuvik, it's a bit different because I think there's an established garage operation in Inuvik. But in many of the smaller communities, if the government doesn't get out of the business, there will never be services provided to the public from the private sector. But as with any situation, if the government simply can't afford to pay the kinds of rates -- or exorbitant rates, let's say -- if the private sector doesn't respond, then we would have to reassess the situation and decide whether we do it through a staffing arrangement, or, if we could go out and negotiate a better deal with a particular company. There is a whole range of things that would have to be considered before we would go back to actually having staff do the job for us.
Mr. Lovely on Committee Motion 15-13(3): To Suspend Application Of The Business Incentive Policy
In the Legislative Assembly on May 15th, 1996. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 15-13(3): To Suspend Application Of The Business Incentive Policy
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
May 15th, 1996
Page 390
Lovely
See context to find out what was said next.