Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are two directives which should be taken into consideration with respect to signing authorities and multi-year contracts. There is a section 43(2) of the Financial Administration Act. There is FAM Directive 802-1 entitled Signing Authorities. Mr. Chairman, section 43(2) of the Financial Administration Act states that, no person should enter into multi-year a contract unless:
a) the person considers that the circumstances require such an expenditure to be incurred and the contract or obligation is in the public interest, and
b) the contract is entered into or the obligation assumed in accordance with the direction of the Minister whose department administers the contract or any particular case or class of cases.
In Section B of it, the obligation is assumed in accordance with the direction of the Minister whose department administers contracts. In this case, according to the delegation of authority that we just provided here, that authority under the direction of the Minister was delegated to the deputy minister. Thank you.