The Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that last Friday afternoon, Mr. George Braden, the principal secretary to the Premier, signed -- or did not sign, but initialled -- an agreement with DIAND in Ottawa. The initialling was to say that both parties had taken it as far as they could and agreed on this particular document. That document will be presented tomorrow to the Standing Committee on Finance, and to Cabinet the following day. As far as I'm concerned, at the present time we have initialled an arrangement with Ottawa, subject to the Standing Committee on Finance, obviously this House, and Cabinet approval, and the notification of the aboriginal organizations that we started to work with when we began this case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Koe.

Can the Minister indicate at this time what progress, in terms of positive dollars to this government, has been made in the initialling of this agreement?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I can advise the House that the offer made to us by the federal government through their Department of Indian and Northern Affairs was better than the previous offer that they had made and that was what started us on the road to negotiating again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. This has been a long-outstanding issue and every year a bill goes to the feds for health services and they pay some of it. How many years, in this current agreement that the Minister mentioned was initialled, does this cover? Does it bring us right up to date?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr Speaker, it covers the past, it covers the present, and it will cover us up until 1998. I believe

there's a clause in this agreement that suggests that we could ask the federal government, or they could ask us, to alter that time frame if it were necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Koe.

I presume that once the agreement is signed, the Minister will be tabling it. It seems that however often the billings are done, monthly or weekly, disputes can arise on every issue and again, I will have to presume, not knowing what was initialled. I would like to ask the Minister, is this new agreement going to clarify the areas of what is a legitimate cost and what is not a legitimate cost, what can be billed and what cannot be billed? Will all of that be clarified in this new arrangement?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, I believe there will be a better understanding of issues, what can be billed, and what will be paid for by both sides, if we are able to conclude this agreement. The signature that is required on the part of the federal government is Mr. Irwin's and, on behalf of our government, will be Madam Premier, as the Minister of Health. If we're able to convince people that this is as good as it gets, then with those documents being signed, there will be a simpler system put in place, I believe, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.