Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Madam Chair. This budget, or I should say deficit, has been compared to an inheritance problem. I guess we could blame the 14th Assembly until we are blue in the face, but unfortunately we can’t give back this deficit issue. I would love to say thanks but no thanks, but I am having a difficult time exactly which way I am going to go. I mean I look at the struggle wherein if we don’t raise it we are going to lose more money. So I think of the struggle as Canada has got a noose around our neck, and the more we struggle by trying to be competitive, the tighter it gets, and it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my topic today is to ask an obvious question. What is the BIP? It’s the business incentive policy, Mr. Speaker, but really what does that mean? It is to create a level playing field whereby we formally acknowledge that, tucked well within the beauty of our northern fresh air, our friendly-spirited environment, the government recognizes simple factors that need to be considered; obvious factors, Mr. Speaker, such as a jug of milk here costs more than it does in Calgary, and a kilowatt isn’t as cheap as it is in Edmonton. Mr. Speaker, labour comes at a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in this particular case I'm going to state that I will be supporting this adjustment. Although very unusual probably for me to be enthusiastic about a tax increase, $7.54, under the $68,000 taxable income bracket, basically could represent a box of Tim Horton's doughnuts. So I don't think that's going to have a significant impact on that tax bracket.

The other side of the taxable income of $110,000 plus, the increase being $227 per year, we are really only talking about $15 a month so I don't think that will have a significant impact on that bracket...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be supporting this motion. I think it is a good step, and I think it is a recognition that we still have to work a little harder to sharpen our pencils. As it has been said, I don’t really think that this burden is necessarily fair to be taken solely on the 15th Assembly’s shoulders, but unfortunately we have to make corrective actions. The Minister has quite clearly said that if we don’t take some steps we are going to be penalized by Canada. I think it is a good saw if we are taking corrective steps, and I think we need to go back to the drawing board and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight conducted public reviews of Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, on March 25 and 26, 2004. The committee would like to thank all the witnesses for their submissions which were made on very short notice. The committee would also like to thank the Minister and his staff for presenting the bill.

The committee was very concerned about the short amount of time allowed for the public to review and respond to this bill. Members appreciate that there were special circumstances in this case due to the recent...

Excellent. I’m just finding that substantial. Unless we had a lot of travel this month, that was a lot of travel, $413,000 this year alone up to the end of February 2004, if I understood it. Did he have an expectation of spending another approximately $200,000 worth of travel? Can the Minister show me or demonstrate how we had a 25 percent reduction in travel in this department? My apologies, I did not see it. As well, can you reiterate your three-year travel average?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again on this same issue with regard to that position, if I could just get some further clarification I probably would be very satisfied to move on to another issue. I'm just curious on the training of this position. Is it quite unique that this person requires very specialized training, that you can only receive this training in Yellowknife even though the function of this position is to be to fully operate in the Fort Simpson area? I'm a little confused on that one. As well as the fact that maybe for my clarity, as well as Mr. Menicoche's clarity, is it a unique...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wasn't really concerned about the actual name of the individual, more so under which line item I would find it under, if the Minister could point that out.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just so I didn’t forget to ask, I would also like the comparison of travel dollars for next year as well. Just before I leave this point, I wouldn’t want to forget, how many chief negotiators do we send? How many assistant negotiators would we send typically and how many legal counsel, et cetera, working through the system? You gave me five titles and I’m curious, on an average basis would we send one for each position or two or three, on an average? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister, and thank you, Madam Chair. Just again to build on that, are we providing full services, even though at this time…Are there any services not being fulfilled with having this PY here in Yellowknife, when it should be located to the Fort Simpson area? Thank you, Madam Chair.