The fact is that we are trying to go down that path. I’ve offered to Members a different approach to take to the budgeting exercise. As I said yesterday, I was told to get the budget done; be ready for May–June. We’ve done that. I’ve said to Members that would put us back into the same old way of doing business as the Government of the Northwest Territories. We’re in that, and that process has not changed. I would like to see a change going forward. As I proposed to Members, when we do these strategic initiative committees, the lead chairs and deputies would be going to committee on a more...

Mr. Speaker, I'll work with the Member on the next Budget Address. Oh, wait. I won't be doing another. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of Cabinet committees that are established that look at budgetary issues, legislation, policy. There is no joint committee process. There are a number of areas we’ve worked with; for example, Members on the climate change piece have put that together. There has been the Mackenzie Gas Project joint committee. So those things we can be looking at to salvage.

There are some areas where, as we’re getting underway with the new way of doing our budgeting process, those strategic initiatives fit at this time. I’ve said to Members already that once we have that up and going...

Mr. Speaker, when we prepare our business plans and go to committees to get responses back — recommendations, input on how it’s being put together — in the end, when we sit down, Ministers, specifically, will have to explain the priorities and the criteria set. We’re continuing down that road in the sense of making sure they’re prepared and have the information and justification as to what happened.

The example the Member has used on chipsealing Highway No. 5, that’s not part of the Building Canada Fund; that’s a different fund that’s been in place for quite a number of years and was also in...

We are open to looking at ways where we can mitigate the impact of the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. What we do and the impact of what we do is something we have to look at.

The research we’ve done to date shows, in some of these cases, if you set up a structure that starts limiting the free market capability, we end up putting other pressure on ourselves. Jurisdictions have found that if you tighten up the market so much and regulate it as a government, you reduce that free market capability, and they go out and sell their product in other places where they do make their money...

I think the scientists are still looking for the missing link. The fact is, as we progress in our work, there is a process established. We are at one level in the sense of the first filter. Then we go to committee and put that on the table, and we react to the recommendations. There have been times when we’ve changed what we’ve presented based on committee recommendations and information. We’ll continue to do that.

This process, this Building Canada Fund, worked out of a number of other initiatives, and we’re still trying to get the final piece of that in place. Again we’re being told by the...

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have to redirect this to the Minister of Human Resources. He would have the most up-to-date information on this file. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as we have in past, as governments have practised, part of the Budget Address is a document on the future, the fiscal forecasting, the fiscal strategy that’s been put in place. In fact, the fiscal strategy is outlined in the document that was tabled, part of the address that’s available to the public. In the back section under B-3, it shows in the graphs that if we don’t make any changes, that’s where we would end up. Those are based on the information we have available right now through our formula financing, with our agreement with the federal government, our own-source revenues...

Mr. Speaker, I told the Member in an earlier question already today, earlier in this line of questioning, that I would be going back to the Executive to get the timeline and come back to the Member. I’m prepared to do that.

But let’s be realistic here. We’re talking about an investment in the Northwest Territories. The Member sees it as risk. I think we’re making investments in the Northwest Territories for the betterment of the Northwest Territories, for the long-term credibility and development of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, the area of agriculture, I believe, falls under the Hon. Bob McLeod, so I'd redirect that.