Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from that answer am I to take that Cabinet is going to have a look at every contract that's going out from departments? If a department comes to Cabinet with a contract to say we want to waive the BIP on this, they're just going to be picking and choosing what projects they're going to apply the BIP to and what they aren't. Is that the direction we're going now? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question was, is the Minister aware if the government still considers this policy to be beneficial to the government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if this is a government policy and it’s to be applied government-wide, how does the Housing Corporation get to waive the BIP on a contract that they put out? Who do they get permission from? Is it from RWED or is it from the government itself, the Cabinet? Where do they get permission to waive the BIP on a contract? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I’d like to bring up an issue that has been talked about for too long in the past government. Today we heard a budget address that addresses us going forward in a new direction and bringing prosperity to our country. The issue that I’m talking about, Mr. Speaker, is the BIP policy. I want to ask my questions to the Minister of RWED today, but I’m sure that this issue is going to be around now for awhile and eventually I’ll have some questions for the Premier on it.

Over the life of the 14th Legislative Assembly we spent probably two years going around...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ll try and change the subject a little bit.

---Laughter

Oh, no, we’re having fun here. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge and draw attention to International Women’s Day that occurred last week on March the 8th. Mr. Speaker, since I was first elected over four years ago, I have always given recognition to this important day and to women in general, as I believe it is vital to draw as much attention as we can to the issue of gender equality.

I was looking over some interesting statistics provided by the NWT Status of Women Council. Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I acknowledge the fact that the Minister says the next games are not until 2008, which is quite a ways away. In actual fact, when you’re planning for the games and make commitments to host the games, four years is not that long a period of time. I would like to get a commitment from the Minister though that the international committee did not close the door on another proponent. I was under the impression that they had said pretty well flat no, that they weren’t willing to change the policy. Is the Minister committing that they are willing to look at the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I made reference to the Arctic Winter Games and for myself, Mr. Speaker, the Arctic Winter Games are very important both to the North and to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Apart from athletes participating in the games, there’s also an awful lot of interest generated in who is going to host the games and where they’re going to be hosted from year to year. As the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs may be aware, there are competing interests right now as to where the next Arctic Winter Games would be held...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that answer and I look forward to that information coming forward. Maybe when that information comes forward -- or maybe the Minister can tell me right now -- when the Arctic Winter Games were first established, who made the decisions on where the games were held and when was the international committee established? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if this government doesn’t agree with the decisions or the policy that comes forward from the international committee, what avenues do we have to object to any of their decisions or influence a decision that they’re making in policy or any other decision as far as the international committee is concerned? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to be back in this wonderful Chamber with yourself and the rest of my colleagues as we embark on what promises to be a very busy and interesting session. At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the accomplishments of the 25 athletes and one coach from Hay River who represented us extremely well at the Arctic Winter Games held from February 28th to March 6th in Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Mr. Speaker, I would especially like to recognize those athletes from my riding of Hay River North. They are: Trista Nault in basketball...