Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate, first of all, my honourable Member's question. I think it would be fair to say that, in some quarters, there is an expectation out there that perhaps is larger than it should be. I did have the good fortune this weekend, on my trip to Hay River, to meet with the NWT Chamber of Commerce and the Hay River Chamber of Commerce and give them a full briefing on the P3 and seek their input. We need to ensure, first of all, that there is affordability. I think that is priority one. Two, transparency, as I have said before. Three, in the selection of the P3 projects, they have to follow a certain criteria. It is not a goody bag or anything like that. This is just a way in which we can bring about the historical spending we have had as it relates to our capital projects. As I have said many times in this House, the last time we had $200 million to spend on an annual basis was over two years ago. We are currently spending about $130 to $140. We want to bring it back up. I would not want anybody, in the public particularly, to be given the impression this is a panacea for everybody's favourite project. The reality is, it will be very restricted. It will be very disciplined. This House and the Members will get an opportunity to see what projects have been recommended and more importantly, there has to be both short and long-term viability and affordability. The last thing we want to do, and certainly I want to do as Finance Minister and my colleagues in Cabinet, is to leave an inordinate amount of debt for future governments that is not affordable. There is going to be a great deal of scrutiny on these projects, and rightfully so. I hope that at the end of the day, we can get on with putting some of the construction industry to work, create some jobs and bring about some of the infrastructure we desperately need and currently cannot afford under the old system of capital spending. Thank you.

Thank you. Just to remind the Members that Tabled Document 19-13(5) deals with that specific item. You will have the opportunity to ask questions at that time. Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Todd.

In terms of the identification projects, we are using the same criteria we currently use. There may be some new policies we need to put in place to give people the comfort level and the requirements that had been asked by a number of colleagues. We are working on that, but the policies of this government, as they currently stand, are what we are guiding ourselves under. At the end of the day, I think I have said, most of these projects will be RFPs. We need to find a way to be a little more transparent there and answer some of the questions of industry. I do not see the need for any significant policy shift. I see a need for maybe some improvement in the policy, some greater transparency, and on the fiscal side, to ensure there is an affordability issue. The rules we have in place now are fairly solid. They just need to be embellished a little more. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Todd.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I think there is a great deal to be learned, hence the reason we hired Mr. Coles. He has a significant amount of experience across Canada. I do not want to go out there and reinvent the wheel as some Members have suggested, with task forces and hearings and all the rest of the stuff. This is $100 million worth of spending. This government spent a billion dollars a year. We need to get into place some of the checks and balances that we can learn from other constituencies. We will do that, and we will have full discussion and full debate about it. I am prepared, this afternoon, to listen to any other suggestions the Members have got. The bottom line is, we want to get on the ground as quickly as we can, the infrastructure requirements of the constituency that we represent so it can create new jobs and new opportunities, et cetera. Yes, we are going to be doing all the things that my honourable colleague talked about. At the same time, I want to move reasonably quickly so we can get some projects on the ground for this coming year. I am fairly confident at the end of the day that most of the Members of this House will see the value of it. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

The Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier the Minister had indicated the fact that offering a peace pipe is a good method of operating with a tomahawk prominently displayed. I was wondering if his department and this government would be willing to offer this peace pipe and to assist people in training and other ways to help set up the basis for a secondary industry in the NWT rather than using threatening postures and the rest to force the diamond industry to begin a secondary industry in the north?

Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister possibly elaborate on what is currently being done to help people get into the mining industry?

Mr. Kakfwi.