Mr. Speaker, the whole business incentive policy debate has been going on for quite a number of years now, and there has been a lot of work done by the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development over the past three years. We looked at the business incentive policy, we did extensive and comprehensive consultation with government and industry over this period of three years, and we're trying to get support to make some changes to the business incentive policy. We've gone through the process that we have with the AOC, and I guess the last attempt was in March when I appeared before the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight and we had discussions on the proposed business incentive policy.

As a result of that, AOC recommended that we begin tracking the costs and benefits of BIP and re-evaluate the policy in one year. AOC would also like to extend the evaluation to agencies such as housing authorities and boards. So the review of BIP was initiated in response to concerns. It has been operating for 18 years and there were about six major changes that we proposed in the policy.

One of them was the definition of business incentive policy and businesses which will emphasize the contribution to the economy through Northwest Territories employment, allocation of payroll, personnel, and/or corporate taxes. So we wanted to make some changes in the definition of the business incentive policy. But in March, I was told by the MLAs on the other side and AOC that they didn't want to move forward with this at this point in time, so that's where we are. So we did our work and we just need support from MLAs to make the business incentive policy truly work for northern businesses. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is another very complicated and kind of an impossible task to determine. Again, the existing BIP companies fall under the current policy so they are BIPed. To differentiate them from other businesses to see if they're fronts for large southern corporations is an impossible task to do at this point in time. Through the extensive review that we did on the business incentive policy, the best way to really get a handle on it is to change the business incentive policy the way we proposed. I think there are six major changes in the proposed policy that we wanted to proceed with, and that would also deal with the issues that you're talking about. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on the negotiated contracts there is a policy that we've been developing in this government and we've shared it with Members on the other side, with AOC. We're currently finishing off the policy to try to fine tune it. Through this negotiated policy, once we finish it and refine it, we will also address how the departments will be consistent when dealing with negotiated contracts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister if he is indicating that he will be dealing in a consistent way with all contracts or just negotiated contracts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm speaking specifically at this point about the negotiated contract policy which we intend to deal with in a consistent way. As for contracts, we are going to continue dealing with contracts in a consistent way, as with requests for proposal and other forms of contracting that we do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just listened to my colleague on the right talking about contracts. I'd like to ask the Minister if, during the time they're looking at the way they're doing things, there is some way that they're giving out contracts and they're not benefiting the North, then maybe they should look at changing those. As for the BIP being implemented, also I think that needs to be changed. I was actually one of the first Members to ever say that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is talking about contracts in general, and part of the contracting process is that we have the business incentive policy and we only contract out through companies that are BIPed. In this case, the current business incentive policy has the tools in place to look at the different companies that are there and they have to follow the legal business criteria as well as our criteria under this policy. Then there is a process on how to review those companies to see if they're actually following these criteria. We could do that. But if the Member is supporting us changing the business incentive policy, I really appreciate that. I think we could also consider going that direction as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Deputy Premier if he can give direction to all departments so they can have a consistent way of dealing with contracts in the North. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, yes, it has to be an ongoing directive of the government. Even though each department is totally different from the others and everybody is very busy doing their own thing, each department has to follow the process and be consistent when they're issuing contracts. Thank you.