Mr. Chairman, as we have said on numerous occasions we are not able to quantify it in the manner that the Member is seeking. I think we know that there are extensive benefits that are a result of this policy and he would have to accept it on good faith that the benefits far exceed the costs. It is beneficial to leave this policy in place to ensure continuity of the benefits. It is my view that the government has a vested interest in maintaining this policy, unless it is clearly demonstrated that it is detrimental to the economic development of the north and that the policy is obstructionist and is a direct detriment to the further development of our economy. One of the reasons is that in the internal treaty agreement with other jurisdictions in this country, all jurisdictions have sought to have certain exemptions made. Otherwise, free trade prevails. In our case, the one exemption we have is this business incentive policy. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. Some of us do remember, those of us that have grown up in small communities, this fly- in/fly-out operation has long since been identified and dealt with. We now have hotels in our little communities where we did not have them before. We have construction companies where we did not have them before. We have people working in our communities where no one would hire them before. So there is some real visible benefits that we see. The government, for instance, took a very strong position in regard to the recent BHP proposal. We said, and drew a line in the sand that said, you hire our people, you give business to our companies or we are not prepared to support you at all. I am not certain that every Member of this Legislature was behind us on that strong stance. We delivered and maybe some of the companies from Yellowknife and Hay River would not be providing services to BHP had it not been for us. Maybe they would have got it anyway, but perhaps they would have just been a fly-in/fly-out operation, which was the way it seemed oriented to go in the first place.

In any case, perhaps there is even a way that BIP would not need to apply to certain places if there is felt to be no longer a need for it. So I would have to suggest to the Members that, do I need to have it quantified before I insist that it continue to apply? In the small communities, I would say not. Every time I go into a small community, I see the benefits of it. Thank you.