Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to discuss the simplification of the Business Incentive Policy. Today the current Business Incentive Policy local preference has a local percentage of 5 percent. This is not enough for the small communities. For example, in Fort Resolution a local contractor lost a contract to another business by just over $100 and that contractor brought workers from out of the community.
I think the GNWT should change the Business Incentive Policy to a single 15 percent local preference calculation. This will make it very simple and it will give the small communities a much needed advantage over contractors from the larger centres and southern companies. However, the larger centres will not lose their advantage over southern companies as they will also have a local preference over southern contractors in their home communities.
I believe the original objective of the BIP was to keep the GNWT capital dollars from flowing to southern Canada. This change will maintain that objective. The current 5 percent local preference is also insufficient on small local contractors competing against specialized contractors in larger centres or southern companies. By specialized contractors, I mean workers who work on siding only, or flooring, cabinets, and specialize in those areas, or even large contractors that have a bigger customer base and a greater buying power and are able to keep their costs down well below the 5 percent that’s allowed in the BIP as a local preference.
Every cent that is spent in the small communities by the GNWT should go to local contractors. This recommendation will go a long way to ensuring that. In the small communities there are very few jobs and the jobs that are available to local contractors should be for the workers that live in the small communities. They already have very few jobs and this change will go a long way to building the economy in the small communities.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
