Minister of Finance, Mr. Pollard.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Lewis is correct. I remember back that far and I'm sure you do as well, Mr. Speaker. In my responsibilities right now, I have foreseen into the summer and I've sent letters to departments, to Ministers, about what kinds of supplementary appropriations we feel should be allowed. I believe the wording is "those of an emergency nature." I've also made a commitment that we will meet with the Standing Committee on Finance in the third week of August to bring them right up to date on what is happening with our spending, what our fiscal picture is, and how our negotiations with Ottawa are going. By that means, I think there are still some safeguards out there and I intend to be vigilant with the departments and with the government, and not fall into a method of handling certain situations that perhaps the previous government used. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, will this also extend to what we call special warrants, whereby money can be spent and where it will be up to the next Legislature to approve money that has already been spent in this fiscal year?

That is correct, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Lewis.

Will the guidelines that the Minister has referred to include the issue of special warrants, even for things like emergency situations?

Mr. Pollard.

Mr. Speaker, all the Ministers know about our fiscal situation at the present time. We've been at quite a number of meetings where we've looked at how much money we're going to be able to spend this year. Ministers know how much is left in supplementary appropriations and they realize that we can't spend all the money we have this summer. It has to be spread over the year. And they also recognize that there's going to be a change in leadership, and we can't leave them with a bare cupboard. Ministers are all well aware of that.

But we are also cognizant of the fact that there may be certain situations that arise in the Northwest Territories whereby emergencies, or what Cabinet determine are emergencies, rear their ugly heads. We will deal with those emergencies through special warrants. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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