Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just some clarification, I think I heard the Minister say in 51 percent of the situations. So if the department is putting up 51 percent or more of the funding, then the Business Incentive Policy and the Northern Manufacturers' Directive come into effect. If it is 50 percent or less government money, then the Business Incentive Policy is not invoked. Is that correct?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is correct. That is in accordance with the Business Incentive Policy. Thank you.

Obviously, this is not a question for this Minister. I was wondering, if all of the departments follow a similar tact, where if the majority of funding is not the department's responsibility, then they do not require the Business Incentive Policy to be followed. I can probably take that up with the Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

It strikes me as strange that if on a $100,000 house, the government is putting up $49,000 worth of funding, the Business Incentive Policy does not kick in. Homeowners using the government money are not required to follow the Business Incentive Policy. I am wondering if the Minister can say a little bit about how they decided that 51 percent was the cut-off. Is this something explicitly in the Business Incentive Policy or is this something specific to the Housing Corporation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, my understanding of the Business Incentive Policy in the way it is applied throughout the Housing Corporation programs that is administered under the Business Incentive Policy. Perhaps, I can ask the president of the Housing Corporation to make some further comments to that. He is more familiar with the process. Thank you.

Thank you. I can certainly respect that clients would want to shop around for the best price, but it seems a little strange to me that we would provide government money and not require that a government policy be followed, whether 51 percent is the cut off or not.

I did not quite pick it up, but for confirmation, is this your interpretation of how the Business Incentive Policy is to be applied to the Housing Corporation specifically? Is this 51 percent explicitly laid out in the government-wide Business Incentive Policy?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, it is laid out in the government policy.

Thank you. So departments are not free to interpret this as they see it fitting their situations. Basically, this is handed down from above and there is really no discretion to be utilized. It is pretty cut and dry what you can and cannot do. The Business Incentive Policy suggests that if government money, 51 percent or more, is being used, then that kicks in?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I missed the thrust of the question. If I may ask the Member to repeat it? Thank you.

Thank you. I was just trying to get further clarification that this is not an interpretation specific to the Housing Corporation. This is government-wide in the letter of the policy. There is no real room for interpretation here. It specifically lays out 51 percent and the Housing Corporation, if it chose to, could not change this and make it 75 percent or 25 percent. There is no room really to move on this. Is that the case?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. From my understanding of the interpretation of the policy in terms of the Housing Corporation, there can be changes made and it can be made more flexible. But again, we are trying to stay within the guidelines established under the Business Incentive Policy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have one question regarding the opening statement that the Minister made. Before I go into that, I just want to remind the Minister and the department, I believe that when the government sets a policy, I do not think there should be discretion on which the government civil servants can use their own discretion.

I understand all circumstances are different, so you have to work with the facts of each case. I believe the policy is there for the employees to follow, so the clients know what they are dealing with. If there is a problem with the policy, the course of action should be to change the policy, not those who are supposed to implement those policies and follow those policies, changing them or adjusting to fit their condition.

I also believe that if the government is providing money to people to help them buy houses, that government should have the right to attach some conditions to say that if we are funding 50 percent of this project, we require you to buy local. That is not just in Yellowknife, you see it in every single community.

I do not believe that is always the case. The costs here aren't always higher. I think that is the biggest stereotype that the manufacturers and northern businesses have to fight. You will see that when you go talk to the northern business people. They are often very competitive and they know the northern conditions and they know what the northern requirements are.

I just cannot say enough about the importance of the department following that policy. If there is something wrong with that policy, the government should change it, but as long as the policy is there, it is for everyone to follow.

My question, Mr. Chairman, is a small question that arises out of listening to the Minister's opening statement. It is in particular the last paragraph of his statement which peaked my curiosity and interest. In the last paragraph, the Minister says:

"This conclude my remarks, Mr. Chairman, except to say how important it is to have a single agency dedicated solely to improving housing conditions for all of our constituents."

I find that interesting, in light of the fact that it comes on the heel of the previous paragraph where he talks about four regional offices that have been created. Now I am interested in this paragraph because I think it is a vision statement of some sort. The Minister is saying what is important to him or it is sort of dangling for me to ask questions. I do not know if the paragraph was meant to inform us or to challenge us to think about what he is saying. Perhaps, the Minister just wanted an opportunity to elaborate so that he did not have to write another ten pages explaining why. I just want to give the Minister a chance to explain what he meant by that.