Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we set up the fund, I made sure the investment committee was made up of southern appointees who were knowledgeable in the lending and funding institutions of Canada so we could avoid any appearances that there may be political interference in the allocation of where the dollars go. This fund operates independent of government. We acted as the seed money which we put it which we have recovered from the fund. I would have to check with the fund managers and the others if in fact we are going to deliver a report to this House. The way I envision it right now is independent of government, and it is set up in a manner where political interference is nil. It is proceeding with applications for business interests, $750,000 and up. We are excited about the fact we have been able to sell the fund as successfully as we have. As I said earlier, we are on the second fund, moving forward to provide investment capital for entrepreneurs at a time when it is desperately needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is to Mr. Todd, the Minister of Finance responsible for the Financial Management Board. In his sessional statement today, he talked about the implementation of a new gender neutral job evaluation system. Can the Minister advise the House as to when he will anticipate that this will be ready for introduction? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Maybe I could get some clarity on the question for introduction. Does the honourable colleague mean when are we actually going to put this into effect, or does he mean are we going to introduce it to the House. I just need some clarity there.

Mr. Henry, clarification.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For clarification purposes, I wish to know when the Minister anticipates that these negotiations will be completed with the UNW and that we have a system to implement into this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

I think I made it perfectly clear and I have been consistent over the past few months, and I certainly made it clear in my speech today. Our position is that we work in partnership with the UNW to reach a satisfactory arrangement for all employees in the pay equity side. I would stress though that it has to be affordable and has to meet, if you want, the fiscal realities that we are currently facing. To answer my colleague, my preference would be to do it sooner rather than later. We are in sensitive negotiations. They are underway right now. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, we will be able to come to a satisfactory arrangement with our partners and get on with renegotiating new collective agreements as we move towards April 1, 1999. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that these evaluations are still under negotiations with the UNW. The Minister talked about how he would hope to have something in the coming weeks. Would it be too optimistic to anticipate that we would have something in place for this government for the new fiscal year, April 1, 1998? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no question that the gender neutral job evaluation will be in place for April 1, 1998. That is what we are shooting for. We have said consistently we have no argument with pay equity. We are totally in support of it. What we are discussing right now in the sensitive area of negotiations is retroactivity. I am confident that by April 1, 1999, we will have the system in place for our current employees. I am optimistic that, in partnership with the UNW, we will make a sincere effort to come to a satisfactory conclusion which is both affordable and is timely with respect to retroactivity. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, in the question of retroactivity, are both sides continuing negotiations on that particular topic? How are they going at it this time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not part of the negotiating team, of course, but we are optimistic that we can come to a satisfactory negotiated settlement with respect to this pay equity issue. I am going to say it until I am blue in the face. It has to be done where there is an affordable component to it. As I said earlier in my speech, this government certainly does not want to cut any more programs. This government certainly does not want to cut any more employees. Everybody has to come to the table with that understanding. I am optimistic that our colleagues and partners in the UNW will do that.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We needed a dynamic individual who would move to Fort Smith to take over the responsibilities of the Department of Public Works and, as superintendent, Mr. Bohnet is going to take that move. I think that he will be moving fairly soon. I wish him the best of luck on his new job. As far as the Department of Personnel, there is no longer a Department of Personnel within this government. The departments have the responsibility of hiring their people. They will not only have the responsibility of hiring, they are also accountable to carry out this government's policies while they do that hiring. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am sure that Fort Smith office will be receiving a dynamic person and the ADM will do a good job there as well. But what I would like to know is what are the plans now for the Personnel Secretariat? It seems as though there is something afoot here. What are the plans? Are they going to do away with this or is it going to stay in place? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.