Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A key objective of the financial assistance program is that all together, they should meet the needs of Northwest Territories business people. Economic Development and Tourism managers informed the auditor that the department and corporations have a "seamless wall of programs," from contribution to equity investments. Having a "seamless wall of programs" implies that, from the client's point of view, there is one place to go for financial assistance and the entire range of services is available at that single location.

The auditors examined the idea of a "seamless wall of programs" and identified a number of problems. Committee Members are very concerned by the overlapping jurisdictions and inconsistent policies and guidelines governing the granting of financial assistance across programs in the department and the corporations. Therefore, our committee makes the following recommendation: