As the Minister says, there are a number of different approaches that we can take. Certainly, on an annual basis in virtually all of the regions we will tender for as and when trade services, for example, to carry out maintenance activities. Now, they are usually tendered out based on the regional centre
and, for example, in the Inuvik region, there will be a number of contractors that will bid on, whether it is plumbing or electrical services, they will bid for the work.
If we know there is a contractor in a small community that is already located in the community and is in a better position to deal both quickly and less expensively with a particular issue, then we will typically use that individual and, as the Minister says, that is typically considered if it is a small dollar value of work or on a case by case basis we can justify that as a sole source contract because they are there and ready to do the work and, if they are the only contractor in that community, then we can deal with them as a sole source and that is typically what we do. If for some reason they are unable to respond, then we have the fall-back of an established contract that may be of more regional interest or regional scope. On other jobs, if a particular item of work is sufficiently large we may decide to separate it out and do a tender on it. So there are a number of different approaches that can be taken if we know there are qualified contractors available.