Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would just like to touch a little bit on Mr. Arngna'naaq's recommendation on the reinstatement in the capital plans for Iqaluit and Inuvik. I will make a general comment on the committee's recommendation that the departments of Health and Finance consult with the Auditor General on the agreement of $1 million, contributed annually by the federal government for the replacement of the Inuvik and Iqaluit hospitals, and specifically, whether it should be a deferred liability.

The department provided a pretty lengthy response and ended by saying that they recommended that the current approach of recording the revenue at the time it is received be maintained and that this is in accordance with current accounting practices. I am a little bit leery about this. I think the department may have missed the point of this recommendation, it is more than just accounting practices, I take it.

I think we would like to believe that this is a matter of the federal government living up to its fiduciary responsibility to aboriginal people, which we have been demanding. For example, we have demanded this in the health billings dispute. We have demanded this with the Heritage Canada. It is the federal government's responsibility to supply funds for language programs. If this is the fiduciary responsibility of the federal government, I don't feel that the GNWT should be interfering in the process.

I guess my question to the Minister would be, where is this money going that is coming in from the federal government? Is it put into general revenue? Are the funds being accumulated over the years for use in these regions? We are not clear on this. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.