Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talked about the supply of rough diamonds, skilled labour, attracting investment and assistance in setting up viable businesses while looking for equity participation. He also talked about a legislative framework and Competition Bureau guidelines.

Mr. Speaker, these are businesses that are coming here. They need to see profits to make them work. The one thing I think is missing from the Minister's comments was something to do with the 10 percent excise tax. We have to do something to provide more margin for these companies if we want them to be sustainable. Will the Minister commit to work towards getting rid of that 10 percent excise tax on manufactured diamonds in Canada?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Antoine.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I met this morning with a representative from a company involved in the diamond industry and heard again that it is far more important to them that the excise tax issue be addressed than a legislative framework. The consumer does not care much about the legislative framework for the most part, but they do care about the quality of the diamonds and the price that they pay. Will the Minister take some energy away from developing a legislative framework and put more effort into addressing the 10 percent excise tax in Canada?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Works, Mr. Steen, with regard to his Return to Oral Question concerning the water and sewage operations agreements. He made reference to the Financial Manual Directive 901, section 4.1.1, that charges for services to the public. They made provisions where there is a 5 percent administration charge and an 11 percent management fee, which is attached. To me, that means a 16 percent fee. I would like to ask the Minister whether DPW is required to recover full costs of those services or are there other options that could be looked at with respect to those agreements?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that Public Works is required to recover full costs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can understand if someone is paying you the full costs for the work that you do, but why is there a need for a 16 percent administration cost on top of the costs that you are already invoicing for, and then you add a 16 percent charge on top? As far as I can see, that is a cost over and above carrying out that responsibility. Why is there a need for a 16 percent charge?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that this cost, as I explained earlier in my Return to Oral Question, covers the cost of administration as well as the other costs Public Works incurs in order to supply the service. Public Works is required to recover costs because if the community chooses, they may undertake the service themselves and therefore, there would be no cost on the part of the community as far as either a contractor or Public Works are concerned. However, if a community takes on the work themselves and hires a contractor to do the job, they would still have to pay administrative costs one way or the other.

For Public Works to actually do the service for some communities free and not charge would be unfair to those communities that take on the job themselves and therefore bear the costs themselves. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regard to the Minister's response, it says that in order to comply with the Financial Administration Act, you had to make these changes. In order to do that, Public Works was required to do that, so does that mean that the agreements prior to this are illegal because those agreements are not complying with the Financial Administration Act?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the previous agreements were in contravention of the Financial Administration Act or not, but in the previous agreements, we identified 9 percent and it was assumed that those would cover the costs at that time. Since then, we have had to recalculate this and that is where the new figures come from, 5 percent for the administration and 11 percent for the other services. Thank you.

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