Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, I asked a question about procurement reform, and the Minister responsible said that he is not aware of any complaints. Today, I have a complaint for him. Some of my constituents are concerned about the 50 per cent plus one ownership requirements of BIP, saying, it is extremely frustrating for us to stay here year round, pay property taxes on several properties, pay extremely high living costs, and watch all the work go to divisions of southern companies who have a majority of equipment and employees in the South come up on a seasonal basis. There is a complaint.
Will the Minister now commit to actually reaching out to the business community and soliciting their input on how we can make our procurement policies such as BIP, the Business Incentive Program, and other procurement policies better? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Member to be a little bit more specific. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Will the Minister commit to raising the 50 per cent requirement to 100 per cent northern-owned?
No, I will not.
Again, I might not have all the answers. Clearly, the Minister does not have many answers that I will like today, but I think there are people out there in our business community who are very concerned about these issues and want to be heard. I would like the Minister to hear from them directly. Will the Minister commit to engaging them in a comprehensive conversation around procurement?
As I said yesterday, I haven't heard any of this. This is the first I have heard of it from the Member. If he has people who would like to talk to me, we will sit down and have a conversation.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Mr. Speaker, if the Minister is committing to hear from all my constituents who have concerns, I will make those appointments. Again, I think it is fairer not to do this on a one-off, but to have a broad conversation involving procurement experts, perhaps experts who do not reside in the Northwest Territories, and bring them together to discuss this. We have energy charrettes. We hire consultants to look at Aurora College. Why is the Minister so confident that our procurement system doesn't require any reform or any improvements? Thank you.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. He is putting words in my mouth. I didn't say that we didn't need any type of improvements or any type of advice moving forward. I came from the private sector. I spent my whole life in the private sector. I have used the procurement system within the Government of the Northwest Territories. There are rules and policies in place that make it beneficial to northern businesses and individuals who want to participate in procurement with the Government of the Northwest Territories. We will continue to look at those, how we will make it better moving forward.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
