Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is a Negotiated Contracts Policy that this government must follow when awarding contracts through that type of process. Generally, the conditions on a negotiated contract are that you need to have community support through the support of the mayor and the MLA, and it has to have Cabinet approval.

Once Cabinet has approved a negotiated contract, you still need to negotiate that contract with the contractor on the agreed upon price. If you can’t come to an agreement on a price, then you need to go back and seek authority for more money, if that’s the case. Sometimes you can’t reach a deal and you don’t follow through with a negotiated contract. There’s a policy in place that must be adhered to, and it’s a public policy. It’s been around for a long time. It was just revised last fall. That has to be followed and is followed.