...to come up with a real number on what these savings look like. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My figures are based on historical data. However, we could get two or three more remand customers next year, or two or three less, so the numbers will change. They won't be exact over the next year. The numbers that have been presented to the Member are in fact based on historical evaluations. We took the logs from South Mackenzie Correctional Centre and looked at how many times inmates have been in and out for remand or in and out for appearances in court, and used those numbers.

Yes, there has been an in-depth look, but I can't predict exactly how many people we are going to have next year. This is based on historical data. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is absolutely right. He cannot predict, but I think it is very interesting that information that came from his department indicates that the Department of Justice does not anticipate any increase in crime as a result of the pipeline or any major resource development.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know which newspaper the Minister reads or which news broadcast he listens to, and I would like to suggest to you that he may not have a crystal ball, but I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out there is going to be a greater demand on our justice services of the next little while.

I know he can't predict the future, but I still do not believe these numbers and, Mr. Speaker, even the $18,000 that is supposed to be allocated for transportation, who actually pays for the transportation of the inmates to Yellowknife, back and forth now for court appearances? Who pays that bill? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP are responsible for prisoner transportation in the Northwest Territories. Our agreement with the RCMP is that the NWT government pays 70 percent of the cost of the contract, and the federal government pays 30 percent of the cost of that contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So based on historical information of the number of remand clients that are now located in Hay River, the Minister is telling me that 70 percent of the cost of transportation does not exceed $18,000, based on historical use of that service. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What we are saying is that we think that the transportation of people on remand can be accommodated for very close to that number. Again I am saying it is plus or minus. If we have a few more or a few less, it will change. Yes, based on historical data, that number is pretty close to what is expected. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary Mrs. Groenewegen.

So, Mr. Speaker, if I were to get the numbers of the inmates in remand in Hay River for the last year and then take the 2.1 times to reappear and go back in court, and multiply it by 70 percent, the Minister is going to tell us in the House today that that is not going to exceed $18,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are some variables here too. Mrs. Groenewegen a few days ago gave an example which involved using scheduled aircraft. If all of the Hay River remand prisoners were to use scheduled aircraft with RCMP escorts to appear 2.18 times in front of a judge, then the number would be in the area of $20,000.

However, the RCMP plane also has to be factored into that. There is a significant reduction in cost if the RCMP plane is used for transporting prisoners. I can say that every time I have seen the plane in Hay River, it has had somebody that has been escorted back or is getting on.

The RMCP also factors into that. Even if we were to use scheduled transportation and factor in the cost of the matron for supervision in the cells, yes, we are talking within 10 percent of the number that we have.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Item 6, oral question. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to continue asking questions to the Premier, in regard to multi-year funding.

Mr. Speaker, I was concerned that the Premier may have implied in one way or the other that we should be accountable for that money. If that was the case, I am going to go back to Hansard and see if he was implying it. Because I think that that is a point of privilege and in no way would I imply in any way that we should not be accountable for our multi-year funding.

Mr. Speaker, I am talking about how these NGOs are being funded. I am talking about making their life easier. I am talking about stabilization of that problem.

Mr. Speaker, would the Premier be willing to go back and look into this problem for say any organization over 10 years that our government has been funding on multi-year agreements that get renewed year to year; that they have to put a new proposal in year-to-year funding, over and over and over again? Would he look at switching them and negotiating a mandate to switch them from three to five-year agreements, to make their life easier? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, we deal with a lot of NGOs, who have a lot of different mandates. Most of them are ongoing, but some of them do sunset from time to time. All that has to be taken into consideration.

Mr. Speaker, if there are NGOs out there who have been filing and filling out applications every year, filing these with the government and then repeating the process next year and want to talk about multi-year funding, they simply have to go to the appropriate Minister and negotiate that. We are open to that, we do it all the time.

Again, I say, they still have to account for the money on an annual basis; no question about that. Second is that whatever agreement we come to on a multi-year basis is subject by a vote by this House on our appropriation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate what the Premier just said, but the other day we were talking about multi-year agreements with the Finance Minister with regard to the City of Yellowknife. The MACA Minister told me the FAA Act handcuffs us for these types of discussions. I am not really sure I am getting a clear answer from three different Ministers.

Mr. Speaker, we can negotiate with these things. Let's open up the door, let's create a one-window approach. Who would this Premier suggest for all of these organizations to approach, yes, with the proviso, that the money is voted on in this House? Who would the Premier suggest that we should be approaching to create multi-year agreements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Handley.