Joe Handley

Mr. Speaker, I’m honoured to recognize two constituents: Carole Lane and Major Karen Hoeft. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to point out for Members, especially the new Members, that this is a money bill and that Cabinet will be voting on this issue. But we have done the work on it, we feel that 14 percent is justified and it is reasonable, and that all of Cabinet will be voting against this bill. Thank you.

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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, there are times when it is necessary to make an exception to a policy. Those times we like to keep to a minimum. We very seldom make exceptions. In fact, if we take the business incentive policy, for example, to my recollection there have only been three exceptions made to it. On tendering, we do that much more frequently. The business community is very aware that we have the BIP. They’re very aware that we tender a lot of things, but also very aware that we negotiate some contracts, we do some as sole source, we do some as standing offers. They know there...

Mr. Speaker, a policy outlines an intention and a direction that the government is going to take. It basically describes a purpose, it describes some basic principles that we’re going to work through, it describes the scope of what we will do and what’s covered by the policy and what it’s impact will be. It also includes some background on how the policy will be implemented, what the authority and accountability is.

As well, Mr. Speaker, it also includes a section which says that the prerogative of the Executive Council, which if I may read says, “…nothing in this policy shall in any way be...

Mr. Speaker, I will certainly take the Member’s message to the Power Corporation and ask that they look at it immediately. The people of Colville Lake have brought this issue to me as well. If there is some alternative to what we have now that would be less costly, we would certainly like to look at that. I think this is something the Power Corporation would take on quite quickly, as well as other partners who help with energy conservation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, for example, if you take contract services for devolution, then there is $245,000 in 2004-05. That includes $100,000 for a negotiator, $50,000 for an individual who is doing some background research for us, and there’s another $95,000 for two companies who are doing some other research and communications work for us. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, as you can recognize, it depends on the negotiations happening. We would typically have a chief negotiator, an assistant negotiator and legal counsel travelling together to a negotiation meeting. Depending on what is under discussion, you could have a lands negotiator there or you might have an implementation negotiator there, but that would depend on the agenda. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, this one is following up on political commitments made in the Beaufort-Delta area on capacity building. Last year we did provide money to them, although it wasn't budgeted. This year we're budgeting the $200,000 to continue on with our obligations in that area. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the present strategy with the Power Corporation is to try to increase the size of our customer base and the amount of power we sell. If we are selling more power, then that helps to cut down our fixed costs that make it more economical for everyone. Though I think, Mr. Speaker, in answer to the Member’s question, we can tell people in the small communities and throughout the Territories that if we are able to put together these deals which result in us selling more power through the Power Corporation, earning more revenue, then we would have more capacity to be able to deal with...

Mr. Chairman, we’ve already gone through the detail. If Ms. Lee wants, I can just give Ms. Lee the page rather than reading into Hansard a second time.