Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak today about some of the points that are wrong with the way the Housing Corporation is dealing with the purchase of 22 mobile homes.

Mr. Speaker, government should follow its policies like BIP and if it’s going to exempt itself, it should provide justification on a timely basis. Government has not done that. Mr. Speaker, I might point out to you that I am not allowed to buy blank CDs from Wal-Mart out of my office budget even if it’s cheaper to buy from there because they do not fall under the BIP. So why should the Housing Corporation be allowed to buy houses from the South because they think it’s cheaper to buy south?

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Mr. Speaker, I say what’s good for the goose should be good for the gander. Mr. Speaker, we are constantly threatening the diamond mines and any business wanting to get involved in pipeline activities that they have to leave the benefits north. If the government is not willing to follow its own principle and its own policy, what right does it have to impose this principle on multinational companies?

Mr. Speaker, government has an obligation to spend their capital money in ways that maximize the benefits for the North. We have business in the North. If they get this contract, they are willing to build 22 stick built homes, not mobile homes, but they are not even going to be considered. They are willing to send journeymen from Yellowknife to communities to hire community people to do the taping, siding and painting, but government says they can’t do it. They are willing to use the trades people, electricians, plumbers and engineers, but government says nobody can do it in the North.

Mr. Speaker, if the government is going to introduce a major policy change like going from stick built houses to create jobs and then change their minds to buy mobile homes, the government has an obligation to let us know that. It is wrong for the government to use a scare tactic to the Members of this House, on this side of the floor, to say we have to break this rule and go straight on through because otherwise there will be no new homes in the communities this fall. Mr. Speaker, this decision was made months ago and we didn’t find out in this House until we read it in the newspaper and neither did the businesses who might be interested in bidding on this.

Mr. Speaker, I, for one, refuse to be treated like a mushroom in the dark expected to live on a regular dose of manure from Cabinet.

Whoa!

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, where there is a major contract…Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? No, there aren’t. Conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, where there is a major contract, like providing 45 homes for two years, the government should first consult with northern contractors to see if anyone can do the job. The government has not done that. In fact, they have been putting off paving the way for northern businesses to discourage them. Mr. Speaker, we have a business right here in the North who could do the job on budget, on time and create jobs in the process, but not only do they not get the benefit of a BIP, they don’t even get the courtesy of prior notice and that is wrong and the government has to change that.

Mr. Speaker, our northern businesses stay in business through the good times and bad and when there is an opportunity of a real project that they can sink their teeth into, those projects are allowed to float right over their heads, straight down south and the Cabinet sits around justifying it.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I know what you would say if the Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas Shop were denied a contract to manufacture 100 mega-sized tents because it is cheaper to get them done in China and not even be given the chance to look into the project. So, Mr. Speaker, I know that you would not stand for it. You would hold the House down for a week to stop it, and I don’t think we should allow this to happen, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

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