Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the privatization of licensing, I heard the Minister state there are no plans to privatize anything further. When they do, what I hope they would keep in mind is, when they privatized this particular licensing operation it increased the cost for the public, as a number of Members have already stated, but the cost to the government, in fact, decreased. What needs to be remembered is, when we privatize there should not be an increase for the public. In the case of Yellowknife; for example, where it is privatized and people buy their licences, people in a community where there is no privatization pay the same thing. In other words, people in Yellowknife will pay more, presumably, than in an outlying community. I do not have a problem with that particular point at the moment, but the government, because it saved money, should have looked at this and said, look, we can reduce our rate. Let the agent have their $8.00 plus tax, keep the fee at $65.00 or whatever it was. This is how it should have been handled.
Jake Ootes on Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 26th, 1998. See this statement in context.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 26th, 1998
Page 1168
See context to find out what was said next.