I am not sure of the question. The Chair is uncertain of the question. Ms. Lee, I will give you the opportunity to ask a question. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister saying that the northern contractors, just out of habit are just arbitrarily increasing their bidding by 20 percent, just for the heck of it? Is that what the Minister is saying?

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not saying that. Mr. Speaker, I was saying that if we take things at face value, we could assume that, but we do not know that. We do not know whether the bids are inflated by 20 percent.

What we will find out from this bidding process is whether or not the northern contractors' bids are the same from what we received down south. If in fact there is a need for northern contractors to bid higher in order to offset their costs, then that should be reflected, but we do not know that until the bids come in.

What we are trying to achieve here is a cost reduction on the North Slave correctional project. We have no more room. We have reached our limit. There is no more going back to the Finance Minister for more money on this thing. We are trying to keep it within budget. We believe this is one of the options we are willing to try.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Mr. Speaker, I understand the Minister's desperate attempt to see if this will save him money, but everything I see says that it will not. How I understand BIP is that, everything being equal, northern contractors will get some benefit. There is nothing to say that southern contractors will do this cheaper or that lifting BIP would encourage contractors from the south to bid on this.

The only thing this is doing is sending a very, very negative message to the industry, saying you are not appreciating your own policy. That is the point, Mr. Speaker. Does he not agree with my point?

Finally, a question. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I cannot agree with that.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is in line with my Member's statement. I am going to put this question to the House Leader, the Minister of Finance, or maybe the Deputy Premier, but it has to do with the suspension or waiving or cancellation of the BIP policy on the project here in Yellowknife, the correctional centre.

My question is, who exactly is in charge of this project right now? Is it DPW? Is it a project manager? If it is a project manager, is he working for DPW or is he working for another firm? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask, who exactly made the decision to cancel or waive the BIP policy on this project? Was it a Cabinet decision or was it a Minister's decision? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is setting a very dangerous precedent, in that there are an awful lot of contracts that have been awarded in the Territories using the BIP policy. To change horses in mid-stream here is setting quite a precedent.

I was wondering if the amount of money that we had to spend as a government on this project, right from day one, was ever identified to the people setting this project in place and putting out the tenders, and it was stated that we could not go over this amount? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on a project that is in a runaway mode such as this, I am hoping that the government looks very seriously at ever putting another project in place such as this with the same conditions attached to it.

I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, what companies bid on this project and how well did they fit the BIP policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Antoine.