Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad this motion is being brought forward today. I, obviously, support it. I think we could spend a lot of time and money reviewing the BIP again. In fact, the BIP does not cost this government very much money.

As Mr. Hawkins said and as the motion says, if we delete the BIP or get rid of it, we will not have an opportunity to get it back. Most companies that are bidding…. Where it’s northern company against northern company, a preference or a premium does not even come into play. So in fact, it does not cost this government anything. I think the dollar value that’s been attributed to the premium being paid to give Northerners this advantage is somewhere around $225,000 — really a very small amount of money considering the number of contracts that are awarded by this government.

I am not really interested in seeing the government spend a lot of time and money. This question has been raised almost on an annual basis since I’ve been a part of this government. We should leave it in place. The risk and the potential downside of getting rid of it is far…. The benefits far outweigh it, for the very minimal cost we actually do pay on a premium. I would encourage Members to support this motion.