Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; there are instances where individuals have recently purchased personalized plates and they will now incur a new cost to replace them. It’s not the full cost. It’s $25 for the personalized plate plus $10 for the new plate. That doesn’t seem to be stopping people coming forward. We’ve already had up to 200 people come in and request new plates or replacement personalized plates. We think it’s a cost that’s fair and we’ll be sticking to the price that we are trying to take.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve been writing to committee since 2009. The Member, as the chair, could have requested a briefing at any point.

Mr. Chairman, we should also clarify that we didn’t change the design of the plate. We upgraded the plate to meet national standards that require some safety, there were safety concerns. There was also a size that needed to be incorporated into this new plate, and while we were at it we wanted to be able to be consistent with the government’s slogan, which is “Spectacular,” and incorporated that as a way to promote the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you. I’m assuming the Member is asking about the plate costs, $10, which is required to recover the cost of what it costs to produce it, associated paperwork. There is going to be 30,000 plates that will be replaced and a further 10,000 a year annually. It’s a fee that we are not marking up to recover any, or to make any money on it. Other jurisdictions charge more. For example, B.C. charges $18, Ontario charges $20, and New Brunswick charges $25. So we feel we’re below the national rates or at least on par with other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe we’re forcing anybody to buy a new plate. If you need a plate, you’re going to have to pay for it. That’s the cost recovery that’s required for this program, and we can’t keep the old plate because the old plate does not meet industry standards or national standards. The size is not what it’s required to be and there’s also visibility issues with the old plate. There was also the issue of safety. So we are now moving forward as one of the last jurisdictions to do so and we’re meeting the national standards that all other jurisdictions in North America...

Thank you. We did do a consultation process with the public. We were not intending to change the shape of the plate. We were only trying to upgrade the plate first of all because the manufacturer was pulling out and was not going to be able to produce the identical plate anymore. It was an opportunity for us to update our plate because the plate did not meet national standards and didn’t for some time. It would be unfair, it would be very frustrating for the public to go embark on a consultation process where there was really not going to be a lot of changes, except for safety, visibility and...

The Member raises the fee that New Brunswick is charging. They’re charging $25. If you want us to stay on par, I guess we could consider that, but at this point we’re looking at recouping what it costs to produce the licence plate. That is our requirement that has been put in place by our government. The Auditor General has raised concern about our department not meeting and matching other jurisdictions. So we are required to do a number of things and that is to ensure that we recoup the costs of this new plate.

In any event, whether we kept the old plate and had a supplier reproduce them...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Member shouldn’t be driving with decorative plates on the front of the vehicle with any kind of numbering or any indication that it’s a legal plate. The plate is required to be on the back of the vehicle.

The disposal of the plates is not a red herring. It’s something that we have to do due diligence on. As the plates are turned over to us, we have to ensure proper disposal. We can’t afford to let 30,000 plates go into the landfill. That would collectively be of concern. So that’s what we have to do. The opportunity is still there for people to keep their plates...

We are collecting the plates right now. As this moves forward, we will be collecting plates. People will be coming forward with the plates for disposal. ITI has already requested to see if we can recycle them. We’ve turned them down. We don’t want the plates going back on the market and being utilized in any other form, especially as souvenir plates on the front of a vehicle.

We are creating souvenir plates for the public to use, for the public to do whatever they want to do with it. They’re free to do that. That will go out to consultation, and Members, people across the floor can have input...

I guess the committee didn’t provide feedback because we didn’t have an opportunity to brief them. There was no opportunity to go in front of committee to present on the licence plate. We did talk to North America’s leader in licence plate design, 3M Corporation, who provided us some advice. We talked to the NWT Tourism Association, who provided us some advice. We also talked to the veterans, the Legion, the municipal officers, the RCMP, and we also consulted with other jurisdictions.

We didn’t go out and do a full-blown consultation process because we were not planning to change the design. It...

We are right now advising the public that they can turn their plate in and we’ll dispose of it for them, or they can keep it. We have no other options available to the public. We are not planning to try to put them on the market. There is a concern from the environment as these older plates were dipped in some toxic chemicals that were required to prevent corrosion that we are concerned about. Thank you.