Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, it is a small department compared to other departments in this government. However, we are involved in quite a few different issues. We are dealing with land claims and with self-government issues and we are attempting to look at the different ways on how to be more effective and efficient in this department. If the question is that we are looking at ways of how to pool this money, I guess I could answer that we have not really looked at where the possibilities are. I think the money that is there to work in this area is quite limited, and perhaps we could say that we are attempting to try to look at it. They are different initiatives that are out there which are very similar, and I am not quite certain what the honourable Member is trying to get at, but the request was to try to pull some money together. I think we have done that. I think we have cut back in this department so much that it is very difficult to cut any more. Thank you.

Thank you, honourable Minister. On the list we have Mr. Henry, Mr. Rabesca. Mr. Rabesca has one remaining question allotted to him. We have Mr. Krutko. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is fair to say that the privatization initiative of parts of motor vehicles has created a lot of frustration, certainly for some of my constituents. I would like to ask the Minister, what was the criteria used in deciding to privatize portions of the motor vehicles? Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the motor vehicles services has been privatized throughout the north for a number of years, and the only remaining community that was not privatized was the community here in Yellowknife. As a result to try to accommodate that, we were able to privatize it. I think the direction here from the Legislative Assembly has been to see if the private sector could provide some more of the services and programs that this government is providing. I guess that is one of the directions that we followed to privatize this remaining motor vehicles services. Thank you.

(Translation unavailable) Mahsi. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope there was more than just to see if it could be privatized if there were contractors here to do the work. I would hope there would be more justification for looking at it than that. The local contractor is taking a lot of the criticism that is probably directed at the department. I believe this government touted privatization from the main platform that it was going to be a service provided to the residents of the Northwest Territories cheaper than the government could do it. I think it is fair to say that people are paying substantially more for that service than they were when it was performed by the government. So, again, I would ask the Minister, is not the main platform of privatization that there is a cheaper cost to provide the service to the public? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So then, from what the Minister has told us, the intent was and still is to have a cheaper service for privatization, and that the monies saved by the department really is to go towards the debt. So, it is not a true example of privatization. From my understanding, the department, as you have told me before, reduced three positions and also there was expenditure savings as far as office space and related costs. I think that figure was ballparked at around $400,000. So is it fair to say then that the contractor is providing a cheaper service, but the government is still charging for the fees that they charged before, and it is kind of a tax on this portion that the department is using for other internal operations?

Thank you. The honourable Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is a fee to have a drivers licence. As well as registering your vehicle, there are fees for a lot of things in this government and the driver's licence fee is, whatever we get out of it goes into the general revenue of this government. Certainly the intention here by the department was to look at it as a budget reduction exercise where we eliminated some of our own people who were providing that service and now a private contractor is providing that service. Yes, it is an attempt to, on the part of the Department of Transportation, to help out in dealing with the deficit. Thank you.

Thank you. Your final question, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe, if we use an example of a driver's test, the department charged $30 for it before privatization, and now I believe it is $30, the contractor's fee and GST. The government does not have any staff involved in it, so the $30 fee is still paid, but the government are not incurring any costs for that and the contractor is providing a service for, I believe it is $8.56 which includes the GST. So, am I correct in assuming that the government used to charge $30 for that fee, and now it is really being provided for $8.56? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the department, when we gave out these privatizations throughout the Northwest Territories, there are a number of different agencies throughout the Northwest Territories that provide that service on behalf of the government, and they receive a fee for it. The agency fee is, you mentioned $8.00. I think that is the agency fee. There is GST attached to it, but the government fee portion of it does not have the GST. That portion goes to the Department of Transportation and goes into general revenue. However, all this different data that is collected goes back to the motor vehicles' area, and they data enter it so that we keep it in our general records. So there is some work within the motor vehicles' area besides the actual issuing of the licences. There is still some PY's that are still in the motor vehicles department that are doing the work of making sure that everything is recorded and everything is registered so that we have a complete computer system there that keeps track of everything. So this fee here, yes it goes back to general revenue, but at the same time we still have a function in motor vehicles division that is keeping track of all this different data.

Thank you. Mr. Rabesca, you have one remaining question. Do you wish to ask the Minister?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation regarding this whole area of privatization under the licensing of drivers' licences. I do not think that most of the people in my constituency like the new system that has been set up regarding the way the drivers licence expiry date has been set up. I think the person has to renew his driver's licence on his birth date, and I guess most of them tend to forget on their birthday that their drivers' licences have expired. Going back to the old system, I think the people will be able to give at least a month's notice to renew. I think that is the system that they want to see if it is possible to get back into the old system due to the, right at the moment, some of them who had drivers' licences been expired a few months past their birth date, I guess, and some of them got a ticket for it. If the months dragged a little more than anywhere between four to six months, I guess after that you tend to go back through a driving test again that most of the people do not feel comfortable going through again. So, I was wondering if the Minister would be able to see if we would be able to have the driver's licence expiry dates changed back to the old way that they used to be in the past. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. The honourable Minister, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, anytime you make a change there are always some problems that you do not foresee that come up. I am aware there is a lot of confusion over the new way of issuing licences. I think the department is aware of it. At this point in time we do not plan to go back to the old ways. As more people become aware of the new system, people will get

familiar with it. I certainly will take the Member's concern and advise the department to see what other possibilities are there to address that concern. Thank you.

Thank you. I have one name remaining on the list. That is Mr. Krutko.

Before I ask the Minister, I would like to recognize up in the gallery Jake Ootes. Mr. Minister.