I will now call the Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act. I will ask the Minister responsible for the bill to introduce it. Minister McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?

Thank you, committee. Bill 17 is now ready for third reading. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize, from the NWT/Nunavut Council of Friendship Centres, Tony Rabesca, Abbie Crook, Shari Caudron and Kyle Bird. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. We can now proceed to the clause-by-clause review of the bill. Would committee please turn to page 3 of the bill. We'll go through this one clause at a time. Clause 1.

---Clauses 1 through 14 inclusive approved

Mr. Speaker, I should have taken you up on the opportunity for a Member's statement because, if the Minister would have read the Member's statement I made last time, it explained that the program isn't based on the report. What NGOs is the department in talks with to bring this program to fruition?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have another question. This is actually a pretty serious topic in Hay River. I have heard from various businesses that there are concerns about MTS' rates for deck cargo. For the last four or five years, I believe, NTCL was raising their rates, and last year alone, they increased it by 10 per cent. People are concerned that, if MTS is aligning their prices with NTCL's, they are not only pricing themselves out of the market but people are going to go through other places in Hay River to get their goods. This is a serious concern, so what is the department doing to...

As I also mentioned, when people are looking for employment, they have to send their resumes to Newfoundland because there is a crew company that we have contracted there, apparently. What are we paying this crew company to do that we cannot do locally?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hear tell that, down at the Department of Infrastructure, there is something like a "swear jar." Every time anyone says "NTCL," you have to put a buck in. Although various names have been suggested for the new government entity, like "The Schumann Shipping Company" or "Bob's Navy," the official name is Marine Transportation Services, or MTS for short.

For those who don't know, the core staff at MTS is made up primarily of employees who were laid off last year when NTCL shut down, so they were able to hit the ground running. However, operating a marine...