Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The review of the Business Incentive Policy is laid out in the Member’s motion. As the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have to look at how this works for us. The Budget Address identified…. The wording is reviewed and the focus seems to be on elimination, but the process is the elimination of the Business Incentive Policy, particularly its application to capital projects, while maintaining its commitment to local and northern purchasing.

As the Member has noted, this policy is 24 years old. It’s not a question of whether the Government of the Northwest Territories will support northern businesses; it’s a matter of whether this is the appropriate tool, in its existing form, to stay in place. The fact is, as we found out in the last number of years — and the fact that the Supplementary Appropriation Act was reviewed just yesterday highlights the fact — that the capital program continues to be carried over because we’re not getting as much activity in the area of government projects. We would like to see more increased activity in that area in our communities to help get those projects off the ground. The analysis my colleague from ITI will be undertaking will look at consultation about this policy and come back to the Members of this House with what options might be available to us to support the local and northern businesses within our communities.

I think we have to look, as well, at the fact that the private sector that seems to be booming and driving our economy in this day and age does not have that same practice. As a government we continue to have the practice of northern hire, the support of northern contractors and purchasing in the Northwest Territories. We continue to support that, and we’ll continue as we go forward.

It is a fact that work has been done on this for quite a number of Assemblies, and we’re looking to take that work and dust it off and have another look at how that works in the Northwest Territories. We want to see and continue to support our smaller communities and get some competition and activity happening in those communities.

With that, Cabinet will not be voting on this motion but looks forward to working with the business community, Members of this Assembly and the public to try to come up with an appropriate tool that will continue to see business development in the North. The fact is we know it was a successful program, because many of the companies that

started using it 24 years ago are now so successful that they’re bidding and doing work in Alberta and have limited their work in the Northwest Territories. We hope to see more businesses grow out of the North like those, but we know we need to have a look at this program and how it supports the business community going forward.