No, it was not an additional supplementary appropriation, Mr. Chairman. It was money that was in the departments existing budgets, under an existing program. Thank you.

I am sure there are some expenditures in there where there may be one-time expenditures to organizations. I do not have that level of detail, but I am sure there is.

Not that I am aware of, Mr. Chairman.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you will recall, we already did the introductory comments at an earlier time, so I will get into the other aspects of the report. First area is reporting for results. The committee is generally satisfied with the positive lengths it has seen between the business plans and the budgets of the departments. It is felt by the committee that this will assist the departments in communicating their accomplishments to the public and the MLAs now that goals are outlined in the business plans which were publicly released when tabled in the Legislative Assembly in late January.

In the area of public accounts, it is the view of the committee that the audited public accounts could be completed in a more timely fashion. If the audited public accounts were completed in August, the committee would be able to complete its review and table its report in the fall session. The committee was pleased with the comptroller general's commitment to provide the audited public accounts to the standing committee earlier than in previous years. The earlier the committee can review the public accounts, the earlier the government can act on any recommendations of the standing committee and prevent any improper accounting or operation of procedures from becoming institutionalized.

In the past, because the reporting requirements contained in the Financial Administration Act only required the government to table the public accounts by December 31. The committee has not been able to complete its review and table its report before the January sitting of the Assembly. As a result, the report has been tabled 11 months after the fiscal year end. The committee looks forward to reviewing the public accounts and tabling its report in the fall session later this year.

One of the recommendations made in the Auditor General's report concerned government subsidies. The Auditor General's office reported that Members of the Legislative Assembly were not receiving a true picture of the impact of subsidies on the Northwest Territories economy because some subsidies were hidden in the program delivery budgets of the departments. Committee Members agreed, with the comptroller general, that in a jurisdiction such as the NWT, a case could be made that most government programs contain some level of subsidy. Nonetheless, the committee is of the opinion that an overview of programs that may provide a subsidy should be provided to the Ordinary Members.

The committee has indicated its willingness to work with the comptroller general and the Financial Management Board Secretariat to develop the criteria for identifying subsidies.

Pay Equity

The pay equity issue continues to be a matter of concern to the Auditor General's office and the Standing Committee on Government Operations. The committee appreciates the government's rationale for not listing pay equity as a financial liability in previous year's public accounts. However, committee Members feel strongly that the government must determine quickly if a liability exists and, if so, include pay equity as a liability in its accounts because of the potential for this becoming a division issue. It is hoped that the pay equity issue can be resolved by negotiation with the Union of Northern Workers before the fiscal year end. The committee appreciates the government's commitment to list pay equity as a liability, if one exists regardless of the outcome of the UNW negotiations in the 1997-98 public accounts.