Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would much prefer action from the Ministers rather than gratitude. There is something strange that happens in this House. When the Cabinet Ministers get elected they are inflicted instantly with a case of amnesia.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Bell doesn’t have to do a year of study. He knows all of the issues inside out, upside down pertaining to this. He talked about this. And you know what? He doesn’t need a year of registry study, he could just go out there and talk to the people. I know he got a call this morning, I got a call from a business in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we finally received the package from the Housing Corporation about how cheap they can buy 22 mobile homes at factory cost from down south. Well, Mr. Speaker, I could have done that. I could have just called the number and got the costs. I would certainly expect that Cabinet will make decisions like this on the basis of more comprehensive information and cost-benefit analysis.

Just yesterday we approved the government budget and RWED got $83 million and PYs of 480 people. I know that somewhere in there that department has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Members for making it possible to conclude our session here with these motions being proposed. Mr. Speaker, I obviously speak in favour of this motion. It is really disheartening, Mr. Speaker, for a returning Member like myself to have to go through what we have gone through in the last two weeks. We like to think that what we say here matters and that what we fight about is remembered, but for some reason, after we have gone through all that we went through with regard to the North Slave Correctional Centre for what seemed like forever in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been provided with a package of information that we understand was used by Cabinet. There is a figure of how much it costs to buy a mobile home somewhere, something like $65,000, and they put five percent premium, 10 percent premium, 15 percent premium. I really was under the impression that Cabinet operates with better information than this. Mr. Speaker, the government has already engaged in the exemption of BIP on two major projects, and I cannot believe that they do this without taking into consideration the cost of it. Mr. Speaker, the cost...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Actually the question that I had in my mind, and that I had before Mr. Ramsay started asking, is the same one as his, but seeing as I am an experienced Member, I noticed that it is mentioned again in the Minister’s opening statement, which we can ask questions on. It is on page 2 of 2 of the Minister’s opening statement. It speaks to the revenues that we would get from changes in the corporate tax rate. It says that the increase from 12 to 14 percent would raise $8 million in 2004-05, but an extra $12 million in revenue at the 12 percent would lose $12.8 million on...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I do my general comments I would like to pose a question to the Minister first. These questions were asked before, but I wasn’t clear about the answers. We know that the corporate tax was reduced in the last Assembly. Could I just get confirmation as to whether or not it went from 14 percent to 12 percent, or did it go from 13 percent to 12 percent? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am looking at these numbers here and it says $35,000 for salaries and benefits for the administrator. I don’t think you can hire anybody for $35,000 full time. So I want to know if it’s a part-time position. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate all the things that he's trying to do, but I would like to concentrate on the issue at hand, Mr. Speaker. The issue is that there is plenty of evidence that suggests that giving this contract and keeping this contract in the North would create jobs and it would have major spin-offs in terms of using our electricians, our plumbers, our local labour to do the painting, taping and siding, instead of watching these 20 mobile homes fly in and get plunked in our communities. We have a real opportunity for our local people to work in them and make money at them...

One further question to the Minister of Health. I would have thought that we were doing those immunizations anyway, and we were paying that out of our health budget I would think. I don’t think anybody in the Territories pays for immunizations, especially babies. Unless I am wrong, I am assuming that they have been getting that treatment anyway. So would this not be a little bit of extra help we are getting to our health budget from the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think he’s at least four days late on that information. Mr. Speaker, I accept that the Minister is an honourable Member and I’m willing to trust his commitment, but I want to know from the Minister and I want him to clarify that he would, in fact, go to Cabinet and ask for a two-week extension. Not just, I will see what I can do, but would he commit to asking for a two-week extension? Yes or no, please, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.