Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Picco on January 22nd, with respect to transparency in Public/Private Partnerships. In response to Mr. Picco's question with regard to transparency in Public/Private Partnerships, I want to assure my colleagues once again, the government is committed to transparency as we proceed with implementation. That Members of this Assembly will have full opportunity to participate in finalizing the proposals as members of standing committees.
As promised, I am pleased to announce I am tabling the policy document, guidelines for implementing Public/Private Partnerships later today. Financing capital projects through partnership initiatives means the government will be able to accommodate more community priorities faster within existing spending limits. I have asked each Minister with responsibility for infrastructure to review his or her department's capital forecasts and to provide me with recommendations for priority projects that we would add to the 1998-99 capital plan, if additional funding were available.
This review will take into consideration the input that Mr. Morin received from the communities last summer in response to his request for the priority of capital requirements. The list of additional priorities will be reviewed to identify those that have the greatest potential for payback either in the social or economic terms.
When combined with the products already included in the 1998-99 capital plan, we will have a list of some $240 million worth of projects. We will review all of these projects to determine which would be most appropriate to apply P3 approaches.
We will also do extensive cost benefit analysis on each project and determine what level of overall investment will be affordable. I will be seeking the input of Members of this Assembly during this review process, through the standing committees.
In response to Mr. Picco's question, I will table the final list of P3 initiatives for 1998-99 in this Assembly, along with any changes to the current capital proposals that may require approval of the Assembly. Thank you.