Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the two formulas are devised, will they come from the existing budget? If not, how will they be arrived at? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

My apologies, Mr. Speaker. I did not have my hearing aid in and, as some Members have often said, I do occasionally have selective hearing and, in this case, I had selective hearing and did not hear the honourable colleague.

Mr. O'Brien, your second supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question was regarding the two new formulas. Will they come from the existing budget? If not, how will they be derived? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is an important question and while it has not yet been clearly defined what approach we will be taking with respect to the new financial arrangements, it would be my position that what we are looking at is two new formulas. We would have a starting position on those formulas by costing the status quo in the west because that is what we have had right now with provision for adjustments change as the constitution discussions unfold. We want to move quickly to cost the Footprints in the Snow Two decentralized model. We will then move forward through federal finance, seeking their support in finding the appropriate levels of funding that are required for both territories based upon the costing that we intend to undertake in the next 60 to 90 days. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how will the critical issue of assets and liabilities be addressed and reallocated?

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of assets and liabilities is a serious one, but it gets more attention than it should. We have done two reports on assets and liabilities in which we have asked Members and other parties out there whether we are on the right track or not. We will be bringing forward our final report soon on the process for determining assets and liabilities east/west. It is my personal contention the assets and liabilities issue is not as large as it may appear to be in the eyes of some. Assets that are east and assets that are west are there. We have been fairly consistent in our position with respect to the WCB and NWT Power Corporation. At the end of day, if there are going to be any contentious issues, they may end up being much more minor than what we think. For example, the accumulated deficit. Who is going to get some of the artifacts? Who is going to get the wall hangings? I do not want to oversimplify it, but the concern that has been raised may be unfounded when we actually get down to really determining what the contentious issues are. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with the Minister. I was not suggesting we take any pavement away from Fort Smith and put it in Arviat. I was more concerned about the timing of when we might find out exactly when this is going to be discussed and settled. Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

On the assets and liabilities issues, we are trying to move quickly to finalize the report. We will share that with our colleagues and our other partners in the process, both east and west. When we look at the asset and liability issue, if we take a hard look at the report we are providing, it will reassure people that it is not as contentious an issue as some would think it is. I am optimistic that will happen, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance and it concerns the process of this government to put in place the disclosure motion of May 13th on the negotiated and sole-sourced contracts. Can the Minister update the House as the Minister of Finance, are we in the process of publishing these figures as the motion of May 13th past stated? Where are we with that right now? Thank you.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize that my honourable colleague has an obsession with this issue and my understanding is we will be bringing forward exactly what he has requested in our next contractual report that we provide to this House on a regular basis. I hope it would bring an end to the discussion and will clearly demonstrate to the public at large this is an open and transparent government. It is clear to everybody what is publicly tendered, what is negotiated, whatever the other arrangement my colleagues make on behalf of the government with the private sector and industry. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Contrary to what some editorials would have it, that the Nunavut Caucus is sitting in Mr. John Todd's lap and purring with contentment that we have the master's approval, I would like to continue with my questions on the sole-sourced and negotiated contracts. When will this be published? He said soon. When will it be available to the public and in what form? One of the previous questions to the Premier was that it may be available on-line, it also may be available on a disk form or might be available in a book. What form are we looking at?

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is your newspaper and your editor, not mine. That is the first thing. Second thing is that we will deliver this contractual information giving full details of what the contracts are, whether they are negotiated, whether they have gone to public tender, in due course. Probably in the next session in May or June. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Picco.