Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Finance Minister knows, one of my chief concerns is the ups and downs in our taxation income, and I certainly hope that’s one of his chief concerns as well. I brought to the front the issue — to him as well as to committee, and it’s in the report and I’m glad to see it there — of a revenue stabilization fund, because when our corporate taxes go up and down, we seem to be in crisis.
We’re in today’s situation, and if we notice this on our corporate tax alone, there’s a $40 million touch that is the difference between Revised Estimates of last year. It could actually be a lot deeper, when we finally do the numbers at large. The fact is that it could be at least $40 million, and it could be as high as $50 million.
Ultimately, the issue is not so much that; it’s how we find a way and a good policy that helps us avoid these types of ups and downs. That led me to my issue of a stabilization fund. Has the Premier put any thought into that, with his staff, the officials over in the Department of Finance, about developing a policy that can help us weather through a few of the drier days before those nice rainy days of lush taxes come in? Has he put any thought in, to that effect? Thank you.