Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on the questions from my colleague for Hay River North, maybe the Minister of Public Works and Services could answer for me a question about the definition of local when it comes to BIP.
We have heard a lot of discussion today in the House about creating an equal playing field between southern companies and northern companies, but when the local percentage is applied, now we are talking quite often about competition and competitive bids between two northern companies. Then the issue of what is the definition of a local company becomes very important. I will give you a couple of examples.
For example, the headquarters for the departments of the government are all located in Yellowknife. It would stand to reason that those departments would do purchasing on behalf of numerous communities at a time. They would put something out to tender and following that logic that a Yellowknife company would be given local preference, but that does not mean that the product or service consumed is being used in Yellowknife. It could be redistributed across the Territories, and yet it would put Fort Smith, Hay River or Inuvik at a distinct disadvantage.
The issue of local preference is big too, so I would like the Minister of Public Works and Services to tell us what the definition of local is. Thank you.