Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The deputy minister did not require Cabinet approval. The reason for the over hold was at the beginning of this government, there was, again, not a lot of different initiatives that required amalgamation, reduction and personnel. There were going to be more amalgamations, but it did not happen in the first two years. The reason for the over hold was that we did not know how the government departments were going to look after all the changes were made. By January, 1997, it was quite obvious that no more major downsizing and amalgamating was going to happen with the government departments. It was quite stable by that time. The departments were pretty firm in how they were going to look for the next little while. The decision was made to start moving ahead and developing some scenarios and options to deal with the office space requirements in Yellowknife. Some of the over hold were reactivated. Specifically, in the case of Lahm Ridge Tower, it was activated by the then owners wanting to, because of good timing, they decided to negotiate their lease and get it out of over hold and move it into an extension. Thank you.
Jim Antoine on Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 16th, 1998. See this statement in context.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
February 16th, 1998
Page 842
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
See context to find out what was said next.