Thank you. Total expenditures. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the Minister of RWED is not able to determine that because the BIP crosses so many different jurisdictions, then would the Minister commit to attempting to provide that information through his office?

Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Yes, Mr. Chairman, I do not want to add to the debate, but I know we have looked at it before and it is hard to quantify because of the nature of this policy, et cetera. I will undertake to see if we can bring some clarity to what we think the equalization cost is as it relates to this important policy. Thank you.

Total operations, total expenditures. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

I certainly did not mean to get my honourable colleague excited about the issue. I am trying to answer the question. If he feels I am evading it, then I apologize. What I am saying to you is, as the Finance Minister and chairman of the FMB, I have an overall responsibility to ensure that the government and the

departments meet the fiscal targets that we set for this government's balance sheet. That is my job to say that we are going to spend, $1,183 billion. It is distributed amongst the programs, et cetera. It is all laid out within that. There may be subsidies like water, sewer, power, equalization payments, like BIP, et cetera, and the responsibility for government is to ensure that we meet the targets that are set. These targets are equally set with committees. If he is asking me to pull all the subsidies out of government, that is a different story. That would take a great deal of more time. The overall coordination and responsibility for myself, and the FBM in this House, is to ensure that we meet the targets that are set within the overall spending that is authorized by the government. I do not know how else to answer it. If my honourable colleague would like to give me a little more clarity, I will do the best I can. I do not quite fully understand the question and again, I am not trying to be silly. The Department of Health gets x number of dollars, with x number of dollars it does x amount of programs. RWED gets x amount of dollars, it does x amount of programs. It spends money. It hires staff. It delivers services. It gives grants. It gives subsidies, et cetera. That is what it does.

My job and the FMB's job is to make sure that we meet the overall fiscal targets of the government and stay within the Financial Administration Act, et cetera and the policies of government. That is why I am at a loss, quite frankly, and I am not very frequently there, as to what more I can say, unless my honourable colleague can perhaps give me more clarity and I will see what I can do. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. I will recognize Mr. Todd and then the Premier, subsequently. Mr. Todd.

Let me tell my honourable colleague how I define it as a success. Prior to the BIP being in place there was not 94 percent of the business interest in the spending this government has spent in northern hands. That is a fact, not fiction. If he wants me to quantify the dollars, it would be a lot more difficult. That is what I am trying to say. That policy was the responsibility of the government of the day in which this current government is monitoring and policing. The reality is, at least from my perspective, and Mr. Steen may see it differently, 94 percent of the government's money that is spent on contracts and purchasing of services is now in the hands of northerners. It was not that way prior to the business incentive policy. That is all I am saying, nothing else, nothing more. Maybe the Premier has something more to add to that. I do not know how else to answer it.

Thank you. Mr. Premier, do you have anything to add to it?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The business incentive policy is established by Cabinet of this government, the Executive Council. All of the policies are. For example, the business incentive policy, we have reviewed it in Cabinet and we have decided not to change it because it is successful. We have seen in the past where we had many southern companies lined up at the door every spring to go broke and leave all of our subcontractors left with bills to pay. As the construction season goes on, like Mr. Todd said, it is 94 percent plus to northern businesses now. It is not a subsidy. It is an equalization of doing business in the north. It has exemption from NAFTA, as well. It is recognized and supported by the federal government that the Northwest Territories business incentive policy is an equalization to put our businesses on equal footing because of the actual cost of doing business in the north, living in the north compared to those companies that could bid and shoot people in for the summer months out of Edmonton or southern Canada. Basically, it is a straightforward policy. RWED has a responsibility of implementing the policy. Every department of this government, once it is a government policy put forward by Cabinet, has the responsibility of making sure that when they go to tender or contracts that the business incentive policy is in their tender document. MACA has that responsibility. The Housing Corporation, DPW, Transportation, Arctic College or whoever, as long as they get dollars from this government, they have that responsibility to ensure that the business incentive policy is in place for that tender. Thank you.

Thank you. Total expenditures. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Todd.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Todd.

Mr. Chairman, I will endeavour to get to my colleague the value of the premium which is paid in the BIP and I will check with my honourable colleague, Mr. Kakfwi, with respect to these large corporations. It was my understanding they were grandfathered and they were no longer there, but I will check into that and see if I can answer the question for Mr. Steen. But it would be remiss of me if I did not challenge to some extent Mr. Steen's assumption that it is only the rich and the powerful that benefit from BIP. The reality is we do have a homegrown - I believe anyway, as one both formally active in the small business community and now an activist in the political community, that the business incentive policy was, not the total policy, but one policy that provided the impetus, if you want, for new northern, private sector, homegrown entrepreneurs to occur. I am not saying without it, it would not have done that, but I am saying it was part of an important shift in policy brought forward by my predecessors and supported by the current government. If I can conclude the debate, if I may, with Mr. Steen who wanted the debate today, I, again, will reiterate that I will provide and try to quantify the premium paid so that we can determine if, in fact, the value of that premium is worthwhile. Thank you.

Thank you. Total revenues. I have Mr. Ootes.