Sandy Lee

I believe in the briefings that the Minister provided, out of the multi-millions that the federal government was allocating, we would be entitled to about $500,000 of that. My final question is on this immunization program. They are not always scheduled. I do believe that the meningitis question came about because this was going around and there were opportunities for youth and teenagers to be getting together and the Minister felt that it was prudent to immunize them against meningitis. My question is, is there a scheduled and predictable immunization campaign that is going to happen next...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister mentioned there are lots of businesses that have picked up the tenders, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that as many businesses are going to be able to actually meet the bidding requirements and have them back on April 2nd, because my understanding is the notice for this sort of project for these houses was so short and it was only for three weeks. Mr. Speaker, I’d also like to still know when he’s prepared to give us the background information on which the Cabinet decided to waive the BIP. We still don’t have that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t know if I can ask any questions on that because I am assuming that litigation is before the courts.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member’s statement, my question today is for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mr. Speaker, as I stated, there have been lots of less-than-good behaviour on the part of the Cabinet and the Housing Corporation in the way they have dealt with this. Mr. Speaker, I think that exempting BIP, exempting themselves from their own policy, requires a justification. We still have not been provided with any evidence that proves that to us. We still do not have any documents, although the Ministers have promised for the last week or so.

Second of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a short comment to close the debate. I appreciate the Members' comments. I just wanted to add that this goes back to…Having been here for five years, I guess not everybody shares my view, but I have gained a healthy dose of skepticism and cynicism in the way the information is provided to us. Mr. Chairman, I don't mean any disrespect to any of the staff or accountants. Accountants balance numbers. They make sure that what goes on the left side goes on the right side. Ministers are the ones who set the priorities, and I think under the consensus government...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am presenting this motion because I do believe that we cannot be at 12 percent where we are losing money for having the corporate tax at that rate. I do believe that 13 percent will allow us to break even and possibly a little more. I do understand that our government is in fiscal restraint but, as I have stated, I don’t believe that we have an opportunity to go through our final situation to the detail where we could prioritize. I do believe that 13 percent will give us extra money, but 14 percent would take us to a two percent increase. That is higher than I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Actually the question that I had in my mind, and that I had before Mr. Ramsay started asking, is the same one as his, but seeing as I am an experienced Member, I noticed that it is mentioned again in the Minister’s opening statement, which we can ask questions on. It is on page 2 of 2 of the Minister’s opening statement. It speaks to the revenues that we would get from changes in the corporate tax rate. It says that the increase from 12 to 14 percent would raise $8 million in 2004-05, but an extra $12 million in revenue at the 12 percent would lose $12.8 million on...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before I do my general comments I would like to pose a question to the Minister first. These questions were asked before, but I wasn’t clear about the answers. We know that the corporate tax was reduced in the last Assembly. Could I just get confirmation as to whether or not it went from 14 percent to 12 percent, or did it go from 13 percent to 12 percent? Thank you.