You're a good chairman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will keep this brief. I know the hour is getting late. I certainly don't want anybody to think that I am trying to stand in the way of this happening. It's just the issue that I have is how it's being paid for. That's the issue here. There are some real alarms going off when the Minister says that there is going to be some filing taking place this summer and we are not ready for it. If you look at the PYs this government has in place, there are 13.5 PYs that are dedicated to the pipeline issue/resource development. We also have this Mackenzie Valley development unit. So what have we been spending our money on for the past five years? What have we gotten for that investment of money and time? Quite honestly, I don't think we have gotten anything or anywhere. It is a crying shame, as Mr. Yakeleya said, that we are here today to try to hammer out a $850,000 supp to try to get this office up and running. To me it's really pathetic. I don't know who is to blame. Maybe it's the last government. I am not quite sure. But at least we are doing something now. We are going to set this office up and get something done. What I don't want to see lost in all of this is the coordination. I still think there are a lot of PYs out there government-wide. If the government wants, they should put their money where their mouth is, get the PYs from the departments and put them into this office so we can have a coordinated approach to this thing and we are not off all doing who knows what, this department doing this and the Mackenzie Valley office won't know what they are doing and people are going in different directions. I think until we get that full coordination, it has to happen. So I am not going to stand in the way, but I do support the motion because I disagree with the way we are paying for this. Given the fact that we have $1 billion budget, I think the government certainly has the ability to go in house and find this $850,000 and it's a travesty that they come back here looking for $850,000. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
David Ramsay on Committee Motion 16-15(3): To Delete $850,000 From Rwed Operations Expenditures In Bill 11, Defeated
In the Legislative Assembly on June 1st, 2004. See this statement in context.
Committee Motion 16-15(3): To Delete $850,000 From Rwed Operations Expenditures In Bill 11, Defeated
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Others Matters
June 1st, 2004
Page 683
See context to find out what was said next.