Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The deputy ministers projected the staff's needs for both departments beyond division. It was well known what was required and how much space was required by the two departments. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, the Financial Management Board Secretariat was informed of this decision to renegotiate this lease of the Lahm Ridge Tower. I am not aware that the Finance Minister was aware of this. Perhaps his secretary, Lew Voytilla was informed of this. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

No, it was not brought to Cabinet for decision. Since it was an extension of an existing lease, it is under the full authority of the deputy ministers. In this case, it was the deputy minister of Public Works, to approve the extension. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The urgency in terms of extending the lease was really on the part of the owner. He was looking to find a way to make his building an attractive investment for a potential buyer. We knew that was the case and we were prepared to talk with him about extending the lease if he could make it financially worthwhile for us to do so. On that basis we sat down with him and it was not difficult within a period of a couple of days to come up with the details of the renewed lease. I should make it clear that when we entered into that, when we gave the commitment to the owner, Mr. Marceau, through a letter of intent, we signed a document which committed us to this arrangement. This would allow the owner to get a new mortgage to, perhaps, attract investors. Even though we had not signed the lease extension, we were still legally committed to the extension at that point, which, I believe, was the end of July, 1997. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Lovely.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When the Department of Public Works brought the recommendations to Cabinet for the Yellowknife office space plan, we did not come forward with a proposal which outlined the exact details of everything that was going to happen. We needed approval in some very specific instances for some components of it. We indicated we wanted to extend some beneficial leases. That was one component of the plan, but was not something that required Cabinet approval. That was within the authority of the deputy minister to make those arrangements. However, we did require Cabinet approval to sell the Laing Building as one component of the office space plan. We made other recommendations to Cabinet and FMB for options that would have required their approval. Although the extension of some of the existing leases was not something we required their approval on, it was something we made them aware of, by indicating that is how we plan to deal with satisfying some of our long-term space needs. It was completely within the authority of the deputy to sign the lease extensions without necessarily going to Cabinet.

Mr. Steen.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, again, this lease arrangement has some history. Originally, it went through public tender to get the initial lease with the Lahm Ridge Investment Company, the former owners. After ten years was up, the provisions called for extensions. Even though it was on holdover, it was still a lease extension so it is under the authority of the deputy minister. He could go ahead and renegotiate a better deal for the government. If the lease had ended and we were to go for a totally new package with them, then it would have had to be approved by Cabinet. I understand that is the difference.

Thank you. We are considering asset management. Mr. Steen, your time is up. On the list I have Mr. Ootes and Mr. Krutko. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. Mr. Minister.