Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker, I should know that answer. Unfortunately, it has slipped my mind right now, so I will have to take the question as notice. Sorry.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Minister of Health and Social Services referred to a budget supplement document which summarizes the cooperative efforts among the departments in the social envelope. As far as ordinary Members know, this document is not part of the budget nor was it tabled in this House. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance why this document was brought up as part of the debate on the budget. Mahsi.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, that document was put together by the departments for presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance to enable them to see how different areas of the budget relate to the overall problems that they experience in their departments. At that time, it was a possibility that we would bring that document forward and present it to the House to give the House the same kind of knowledge that the Standing Committee on Finance had gained from that document during their review of the budget. So that was the plan at the time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Good morning to you, too, John. Mr. Antoine.

Mr. Speaker, this budget supplement document was provided to Members of the Standing Committee on Finance during the review of the main estimates in January. Information provided to the Standing Committee on Finance is considered confidential by Members of the committee and great care is taken to ensure that these documents remain confidential. For this reason, standing committee Members do not feel it is their place to distribute

documents provided to them by the government during their review of the budget.

However, the Minister of Health and Social Services yesterday appeared to imply that it should have been the responsibility of standing committee Members to distribute the document to all Members. Can the Minister of Finance please clarify whether the Standing Committee on Finance should distribute documents provided to them by the government during their review of the budget? Thank you.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, and I apologize for the good morning, good afternoon confusion, Mr. Speaker.

---Laughter

I deal an awful lot with the Standing Committee on Finance, Mr. Speaker, and I think that Members of Cabinet sometimes assume, and perhaps wrongly so, that documents that go to the Standing Committee on Finance, automatically go to ordinary Members of the House who are not Members of that committee. So, I would agree with the chairman that it is not the responsibility of the Standing Committee on Finance to distribute those documents and I would suggest that if we make reference to documents in our statements on this side, that we take full responsibility for providing those documents to other Members of the House. That's the way we will do it in the future, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister considers this document, the budget supplement document, to be part of the budget, why did he not refer to it in the budget address? Mahsi.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I don't consider that document to be part of the budget. It was described as a budget supplement when the information was provided to the Standing Committee on Finance and it was referred to in that manner because it was supplementary information that compiled three particular departments' efforts into something that we felt would be readable and would make more sense if it was put together in one document. It was supplementary information to the budget, not considered part of the budget, Mr. Speaker. So, consequently, I didn't mention it in the budget speech. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi. Once again, Mr. Speaker, it appears that this budget supplement document should be accompanying a supplementary appropriation, as it refers to initiatives which are not mentioned in the main estimates. Can the Minister of Finance tell this House whether the government will be introducing a supplementary appropriation for the additional initiatives that are mentioned in this document? Mahsi.

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, depending on what Mr. Martin says on Monday, I may be coming back with a different kind of budget. Mr. Speaker, as the chairman knows, there is going to be a meeting between myself and the Standing Committee on Finance on Wednesday morning, I believe at 9:00 am. That is one of the issues that I will report to them on. There is a meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday evening and that is one of the issues we will be deliberating upon decisions on the contents of that document and the discussion that took place in committee of the whole yesterday, will be made next week as to how this thing will be addressed, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, I made a Member's statement about social assistance recipients. Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Social Services about the procedures for converting cheques to cash, especially for people with children. They only convert a small amount. There are responsible people out there who do not misuse these funds. What are the reasons for making just a certain amount cashable? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Health and Social Services, Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, the social assistance regulations for issuance of assistance include that cash can be made payable to the recipient; jointly to the recipient and the supplier; to the supplier on behalf of the recipient; or, to a trustee. On the issuing of a voucher, this is left to the discretion of the worker, the person who deals with the client. It is done in consultation with the person who is receiving the social assistance. In that regard, the cheque is usually issued to the supplier -- and this could be at the request of the client -- if there is evidence that the client is unable to manage the money when the money is being used for the care and feeding of children, or as recommended by the hamlet and regional councils. So there is a degree of

flexibility about how social assistance can be issued. Thank you.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, it is at the discretion of the community and social worker whether social assistance will be issued by voucher or cash. Do I understand that it is at the discretion of the social worker? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.