Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let us make it clear, there should be no confusion as it relates to this government's position as we move forward to negotiate the formula arrangements. We see clearly that there is a requirement for two new formula gross expenditure bases for both the western government and the eastern government. It is clear with respect to the federal government's position as it relates to Footprints in the Snow 2, they have indicated support for it, both through the Minister of DIAND and the Minister of Finance. This government's position is also to support the Footprints in the Snow 2 report, along with NTI. Therefore, we are currently costing, in an orderly way, that blueprint and model that is in place. In that costing, we will identify the incremental side of it. With respect to the western government, we are costing right now the government that is in place. Once we have that costing in place, with our partners in the process we will then move forward to the federal government and see if they are prepared to pay the price.
I have to remind everybody, especially the audience out there, that the fact of the matter is, the current levels of funding that we receive from the federal government is somewhere between 76 to 80 percent of the monies we receive. Our capacity to generate revenues is very limited. We are somewhere in the region of 20 to 24 percent capacity to generate revenues. When you look at two new territories, the capacity to generate revenues, the requirement for the gross expenditure base, will change significantly, hence the reason for what I have been saying for weeks. There is clearly a requirement to identify two new formulas, with two new expenditure bases, based upon two models. The models are Footprints in the Snow 2 and the western government as we currently see it. We then move that forward with our partners to the federal government and ask are you going to pay the bill? Thank you.