Thank you, Mr. Chair. Crown corporation is also subject to different rules than the government, as an operating entity. You know, the Minister said famously on Small Business Day, when we pressed him on questions, that the GNWT is not a business; it's up to individual businesses to come forward.
Well, as it relates to MTS, it is a business, and it's in the business of shipping. The longer there is uncertainty around the arm's-length nature of this, the more liability the GNWT potentially brings itself on from the people who feel that the government is unfairly competing in both domestic and international markets.
It's imperative that we set MTS on a clear course forward. There has been a consultants' report that has made recommendations on what kind of model it should take. You know, even if that work was undertaken now and it became a Crown corporation or a special operating agency, the government could continue to subsidize its operations through direct funding or through subsidies. That would not be inappropriate, given its nature is still a government-owned business or a special operating agency.
From the evidence we have heard today is that, MTS, any decisions about its future will take five years, potentially. We might again accrue enough liability to potentially set us up for failure. Members are raising these concerns they have today. They have previously. They have in business plan reviews. They have on the floor of the House.
Is the Minister taking these concerns seriously? Can he commit to addressing these more fulsomely than just planning to address them sometime in the future? Thank you.