Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in October of last year, I rose in this House with questions to the lucky Health Minister we have over here about sole sourcing purchases that are going directly south and the concern that several Yellowknife businesses had brought to me with the fact that they felt left out of the picture of bidding opportunities. They felt slighted by the process. Mr. Speaker, I wrote to the Minister about the policy. Two days ago in this House, I tabled a letter to me from the Minister of Health and Social Services regarding medical supply businesses. He says they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To further emphasize my point, and I do appreciate how the Minister was very forthcoming on this information, because I believe it was a lot of work to put it together, but under Stanton Territorial Hospital authority, northern suppliers supplied $156,000. In comparison, southern suppliers supplied $1.75 million. That means northern suppliers supplied eight percent at the Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services, under the sole source contracting ledger here, made up 43.6 percent as a government as a whole for sole source...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I emphasize Yellowknife businesses were missing out on opportunities that they felt that they didn’t even get to see the bid on. These are the same businesses that are filing taxes here, so that should make our Finance Minister happy, but they are also being asked to donate to the community. If I can point out sole sourcing on a tabled document here on May 31, 2005, for Health and Social Services, it is a sole source directly that was $18.5 million out of their total contracting budget area which was $20 million, so that represents 92 percent of contracts went sole...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fundamental to the interest of democracy is the people's access to see our debates on TV. So it is essential that the people have the ability to see what the representative MLAs are doing on their behalf. The media, which we can only rely so much upon, that delivers one of the pillars of democracy -- the stories and the truth that we tell here today -- but we can't put the burden strictly on the media themselves. So it is crucial that a public broadcasting system is available so our proceedings can be maintained at the highest level possible for access to all...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister could elaborate a little further, does he mean this fiscal year of the '05-06 budget? Which fiscal year is he referring to that we'll get the brand-new driver's licence cards out there? As well, I didn't quite get a clear answer on will they be doing the renewal notices as he has promised in the past? Thank you.

I couldn’t hear you, Mr. Speaker, but I will just assume you are supporting Mrs. Groenewegen in this regard. For sake of ease, I will withdraw them. The only intent was to reference Groundhog’s Day and the groundhog is afraid of their shadow. So, if Mr. Roland and anyone in his family were concerned by the remarks, they were not meant to be intended in any negative way. In that regard, I will withdraw them just for the sake of moving on.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as the renewal notice, would the Minister provide some clarity on that, whether that will become the new standard practice of the Department of Transportation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the last few years I've been raising the issue of the driver's licence renewals as well as a brand-new driver's licence. I'd like to ask a question to the Minister of Transportation. When can we expect any updates on this matter, or the actual brand-new drivers' licences that he promised in the last budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To pick up on one of my colleague’s points, it is Groundhog Day. It is finally time that we have seen that our little gopher over there isn’t afraid of his shadow. I am saying kudos to the guy who actually says he wants to stand up to the Government of Canada. So, finally, let’s see if this tough talk actually emerges to anything but sugarplums in dreams. This statement says, like many other statements, oh, let's talk about the dreams of hydro. Let’s put the initiatives of hydro ahead of children. I didn’t hear any statement saying that children are number one....

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've said in this House that I actually have a class 4 driver's licence and I do get a notice every five years about updating my medical. I was just kind of looking for a yes or no; we will do the notice with the brand-new driver's licence. The Minister brought it up himself; is he going to attach tickets to the renewal of drivers' licences? He sort of brought that up himself, so is that part of the new process that he's developing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.