Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The insurance cost, the total premium we're estimating to spend this fiscal year in 2004-05, is $2.030 million. So we've made a significant savings of what would have been required if we didn't make those changes. Again, that's $2.030 million as the premiums we've estimated this year.

Again our cash position, short-term borrowing, there are a number of factors that flow in there and can impact on that. If we find ourselves not meeting some of our targets or not implementing some of our revenue options, not implementing some of the potential savings through...

Thank you, Madam Chair. There were a number of areas that we’ve built the business case on for meeting with our federal counterpart, and there were areas that we also worked with our other northern jurisdictions, the Yukon and Nunavut. One of the critical areas was the adequacy argument, as we call it. That term adequacy can be defined by any number of groups to meet their definition but, in our case, it was to deal with the five percent cut to our base that happened in 1996 and to have that restored. We feel that it has been restored in all of the other jurisdictions through the CHST...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The last increase took place April 1, 2003. As a result of that, we estimated approximately $1 million as a result of that increase. So the last increase, April 1, 2003, was a 10 percent increase in mark-ups. We estimated a net result of approximately $1 million.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize my constituency assistant from Inuvik, originally from Sachs Harbour, and this time I will get it right, her name is Brenda Dillon.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The $20 million forecast is yet to be discussed in the future budget. I will be going to Members and as the Member for Hay River South had asked earlier about potential options or suggestions, we are looking for suggestions to go forward. We have to look at all avenues that we spend our money on, all programs and services delivered by our government that we have flexibility in. We are going to have to look at those. Core programs and services are going to have to be maintained because some of those are required. They are statutory obligations that we have to meet...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The review of the Liquor Act is something we are in agreement with. It is a high priority for us. It is in need of a revision and review. That’s why we have highlighted it and are going to be moving forward with the process we established as Cabinet and committee in the Legislative Assembly. The Liquor Act itself will require work and some of the areas Mr. Braden has just touched on are areas we have to deal with as a government as a whole. I don't want to say another part of our government needs to take direction. As a government, we need to set that direction. That...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The increase in revenue of liquor sales on page 3-20 is not a result of taxes. It is a result of increase of volume sales and increase of the product from the suppliers. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank the Member for complimenting the people here with me, as they have worked hard to prepare the documents now and the main estimate the Member uses. As well, I would like to inform the Member I have been referring to the opening remarks I have made and I actually thanked my people here with me because they have worked hard to make sure I had the information to go over and make myself very familiar with this. So it is a team effort. Like what I have been saying about the process we are going to go in, it’s a team effort.

The grants and...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, for Bureau of Statistics, travel and transportation, $20,000; materials and supplies, $27,000; purchased services, $7,000; contract services, $5,000; other expenses, $5,000; computer hardware and software, $9,000.