Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me is Mr. Voytilla who is in charge of FMBS. Thank you.

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Clause By Clause

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a few short comments. The purpose of the Forgiveness of Debts Act, 1995-96, is to authorize the forgiveness of certain debts listed in the schedule to the act.

Pursuant to section 25(1) of the Financial Administration Act, the forgiveness of a debt or obligation to the government exceeding $1,000, must receive Legislative Assembly approval.

Pursuant to section 83 of the Financial Administration Act, the forgiveness of any debt or obligation to a public agency, regardless of dollar amount, must also receive Legislative Assembly approval. The only exception would be if the act of that agency addresses forgiveness of debts and the section of the act operates notwithstanding the Financial Administration Act.

When a debt is forgiven, no further collection action shall be pursued.

The forgiveness being proposed in this act will not require a new appropriation. Allowances for doubtful accounts were charged to an appropriation at the time it was determined that collection of the debts was considered unlikely.

The Financial Management Board Secretariat, government accounting, pursues collection action against the debtor on all outstanding accounts, including accounts which have been previously written off. In the files that have been identified for forgiveness, it has been determined that collection of the debt is no longer possible.

The accounts being recommended for forgiveness are the result of bankruptcies, negotiated settlements and public interest. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed Bill 3, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 1995-96. Members discussed the bill and agreed that it should be moved into Committee of the Whole for further discussion and action. The total amount of the debts being forgiven by this bill is almost $500,000. The standing committee Members understand that many of these losses were the result of bankruptcy or negotiated settlements with debtors, and that the amounts are unrecoverable. However, Members did have a number of questions regarding some of the items in the bill, and will take this opportunity today to raise them with the Minister.

Members also had a number of concerns about the policies, procedures and processes used by the government in collecting from debtors. In reviewing the debts listed in the schedule to the bill, the committee noticed some of the businesses listed are either still in operation or their principals are involved in other operating ventures or employment. There were concerns raised about whether there should have been more effort into recovering the outstanding debt from these businesses and/or the principals, rather than coming to negotiated settlements or simply forgiving the debts. In other cases, the committee felt there were additional opportunities to collect the remaining debt and that these opportunities should have been pursued.

Finally, Members were concerned about the role of the committee in reviewing the bill. This included questions about the stage at which elected officials become part of the process when a debt is being forgiven or a settlement is being negotiated. The standing committee will be examining this issue more closely in the near future.

After Members have an opportunity to make general comments on the bill, I will be making a motion regarding the existing processes and policies for collection and forgiveness of debt owing to this government, its boards, agencies and commissions.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes the comments of the Standing Committee on Government Operations regarding Bill 2, Write-off of Debts Act, 1995-96. Thank you.