Joe Handley

Mr. Chairman, it would either be in Hal Gerein or Hal Gerein and Associates or a company that he has under some name, I'm not sure. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in spite of the suggestion of the other side that we do a study on it, I will not do one on this. There is no estimate that has been done on it. It would depend on how we did it if it was a name change, whether we did it in all one sweep or whether we did it over time. But, at this point, the issue has not reached the point in its importance that I would even think about doing any kind of study at this time. I realize the Members were joking in asking that we do a study on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, in making the 25 percent reductions, in all government departments we worked from our budgets. We didn't go to actual travel. We worked from what was budgeted for travel. So that was no different when we came to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.

Last year, in 2003-04, the ministry budgeted $934,000 for travel. The reason for the increase from the roughly $700,000 per year was because of the anticipated travel on the devolution file and on the Tulita self-government negotiations. So, Mr. Chairman, we worked from budget to budget, not actuals, and we haven't done that in any...

I'm sorry, Mr. Chairman. I was giving the Commissioner a big budget. The travel and transportation, $25,000; materials and supplies, $15,000; purchased services -- and this includes telecommunications, delivery and courier, advertising, meeting expenses -- $10,000; contract services, mainly for equipment leases, $2,000; fees and payments, $10,000, and that's made up of entertainment allowance of $4,000, transportation allowance of $6,000. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I’m told that a lot of northern companies have picked up the tender documents for this project. If they are successful then that certainly means increased business throughout the North. Second, Mr. Speaker, if we can find a way of getting more houses into the communities, we would not only deal with the issue of housing shortages and affordable housing, but more houses mean more business for the people of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I’ll look for any way I can to ensure that we deal with those two issues of adequate, affordable housing and ensuring that we’re giving...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the two examples the Member refers to; first of all, the $100,000 for negotiator is for an individual who is on contract to negotiate on our behalf on devolution. That is the amount for his fee and travel for a year. I expect that if things go well, that that contract will continue until we complete devolution negotiations in 2005. The other one of $50,000 is for an individual who we had on contract to determine the true A-base cost of the programs and services that DIAND is offering that are being negotiated through the devolution resource revenue sharing...

Mr. Speaker, our government’s priorities are determined by the discussions we have here in this House as well as by other groups and agencies who provide us advice or direction on what should be our highest priorities. Mr. Speaker, to date, I have not had anyone tell me that the name change should be on our short list of high priority items we need to achieve as a government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, we have cut $176,000 out of our travel budget. I would have to work out what the total amount was that we cut that from. Mr. Chairman, the total travel expenses for the last year that we used was about $900,000. Of that, we cut $176,000 to arrive at the number we’re using for this year. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I have a breakdown of all the other expenses by category, and copies for all the Members.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I could take a look at the challenges of developing a comprehensive communications policy that would include an opportunity for consultation. I am not sure exactly what that would look like, but I certainly take it as advice.

Mr. Speaker, I should also mention that, in addition to the opportunities like this where a lot of the public are listening in to our discussions and debates, we also have a Web site that we certainly encourage people to have a look at, as well as personal contacts. There are opportunities for a lot of consultation and we do get a fair...