Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Interim Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1992-93 provides the authority for the government to continue operations from August 1 to the earlier of 1) October 31, 1992 or 2) the date the Legislative Assembly approves the main appropriation act for operations and maintenance expenditures for 1992-93. Once the main appropriation act is approved, the interim authority ceases to have effect. The Interim Appropriation Act is intended to provide the minimum appropriation authority required to maintain operations from August I to October 31 this year. The interim appropriation calculations are based on the revised 1991-92 budget and include no allowance for inflationary or volume growth from last year.
Mr. Chairman, Members have previously expressed concerns that the 1991-92 budget levels upon which the interim appropriation is based resulted in a large deficit last year, and to continue to use the 1991-92 budget as a base will result in a large deficit again in 1992-93. This concern, Mr. Chairman, has been addressed. The main appropriation act has been prepared by the Financial Management Board and has been submitted to the standing committee on finance for review. To ensure the expenditure targets established in this main appropriation act are not exceeded this year, department managers have been instructed to manage their operations within the limitations of the main appropriation act. For those areas where the budget will be declining below 1991-92 levels, managers will take the necessary action to achieve the lower expenditure level.
Mr. Chairman, the Interim Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1992-93 does include several appropriation requests and special warrants that are over and above the 1991-92 budget levels. These are adjustments that have been necessary for operational reasons and have been fully disclosed and discussed with the standing committee on finance. The special warrants are shown clearly in the information document accompanying the bill, and for the information of Members, I will identify the additional appropriation requirements that are included in the interim appropriation amounts. These are: in Municipal and Community Affairs, an additional $167,000 and one person year to establish a portion of the joint emergency preparedness program that is funded by the federal government; in Health, the inclusion of $68,000 to fund the 1992-93 costs of a two-year community birthing pilot project in Rankin Inlet; in Social Services, the inclusion of $75,000 to fund a family violence shelter in Inuvik; in Economic Development and Tourism, $500,000 to carry over Economic Development Agreement funding for a business services centre project in Hay River that was previously committed by the federal and territorial governments; in Social Services and Education, offsetting increases and decreases to reflect the transfer of the funding associated with the Canada NWT Employability Enhancement Accord from Social Services to Education.
That concludes my opening remarks, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.