Mr. Chairman, I do not want to try to guess the results of the review that is going on. Clearly we have to move away from operating under an ROD and to one where we operate under an act and regulations. What that new entity will look like or entities will look like after the review is done is hard to guess. However, I agree with the Member. Let us have it operate under an act and regulations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to explore an area that is very much about a government's philosophical approach, if you will, to the value of putting taxpayers money at risk as an equity investment in a business.

The track record that we seem to have established over the years or the past decade or longer, is difficult to really pin down, Mr. Chairman, to see just whether or not the dollars that have been put in place have made good sense, at least from a business point of view, and whether it is something that this government should indeed consider in the long run, whether it wants to take its limited financial resources and put them at this kind of risk.

My colleague, Mr. Dent, made a reference I think in this same vein a little while ago to express whether we are making business investments here in the conventional sense of the business world where there is competition, there is risk and reward, or are we really putting money into our society and economy more from a social connotation? The intent of the government to explore or to look at all of our business assistance programs is a very good one, Mr. Chairman, and I am very encouraged and am looking forward to the recommendations that the committee will come forward with.

I would like to see what the Minister might have to say, at least at this point, especially if we look at the way other business assistance is made available in the Northwest Territories. The banking and investment climate that we have in the Northwest Territories has changed quite a bit in the last ten years. There were very few and limited abilities of banks to service the smaller, especially the smaller communities, Mr. Chairman.

I think we now have a much broader basket of services and options for businesses. Government is not the only game any more. I am wondering in this context, does the Minister still feel strongly that this government should be putting money, taxpayer and public money, into high-risk business ventures? Or is it time to recognize what is going on out there? Are there indeed other options that could see government backing away? Maybe I will leave it at that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, like most governments across the country, we do offer through the Business Credit Corporation a service which is a lender of last resort. There is a fairly high risk. I believe our losses are somewhere around 14 percent, which is not bad when we look at the experience of other provinces.

There is a need to assist northern businesses. Very often, northern businesses that are going into new ventures or areas where things have not been tried before, do face high risk. If we did not do it, we might end up in a situation where either businesses would never get started, we would never see the diversification we need in our economy, or we would just see the more well-healed bigger companies coming in and basically owning everything. I think there is a need to continue to provide that kind of higher risk, but the risk has to be within reason. The need to provide a higher risk support, but it has to be within reason. It cannot get out of hand.

I think we have good people in the Business Credit Corporation and RWED and Development Corporation who manage to maintain a fairly good record, compared to other jurisdictions. I am pleased with some of the changes we have made recently. I think we are heading in the right direction.

As we do the review of all of our services, then we have to, of course, revisit that and decide what level we are going to provide it. Some of the cases we have done it through loans. In some cases, we have done it through preferred shares in ventures. In other cases, we have simply done loan guarantees. As a government, we have a responsibility to assist our businesses, northern businesses, in order that we develop a fairly diversified economy. I expect that we will stay in it as a government. Thank you.

Mr. Braden.

If we consider that approach, the aspect of lender of last resort, I guess again, for me, it calls into some question. If a business venture through conventional banking sources or some of the other sources of capital that are out there, and I would include in this some of the aboriginal development corporations, there are national aboriginal development funds that are quite rich and relatively easily accessed.

If we have projects that cannot meet some criteria with the range of services that are out there, I am still wondering of what value are some of these last resort and really high risk ventures to our economy?

My point, and I guess my question, is would we actually be looking at sharing risk with other lenders, with other financial organizations, so they could sort of share our criteria and we can share theirs, and we come up with things that in a business sense do make more sense? If we are really putting money out there in very high-risk ventures that no one else will touch...I just do not think that they have a place in a business format. Maybe there is somewhere else that we can put them and be accountable for how the money is spent or how it is put at risk. These really long stretches, these high risk things, I do not know if we have a place to be there if no other institution will touch them. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Handley.

I agree with the Member that we have to keep it within reason. There are times that banks will not go into a situation. Often it is not because of the particular company or individual, but it is simply that they do not know anything about the community. They do not have a branch there. There is no experience there. I think in some of those situations as a government, we have an obligation to go there. Otherwise, we will never see the smaller communities in particular ever getting a fair opportunity. There is a role for government there. We cannot go into what you referred to as those very high risk things. We should not be there. This all has to be done within reason. Thank you.

General comments? Comments in regard to the Auditor General report, 1997. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Bell.

Mr. Chairman,

I MOVE that this committee recommends that the present Financial Management Board's record of decision setting the limits for subsidies issued by the Northwest Territories Development Corporation be transferred into regulations by December 31, 2000.

The motion has been circulated and everyone has a copy. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have another committee motion. Mr. Chairman,

I MOVE that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Business Credit Corporation Act be reviewed to make appropriate information on loans available to the public where such information will not jeopardize a business;

AND FURTHER that the Act be changed to allow for information on bad debts to become public after a suitable period of time.

Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my business interests are in the administrative trust but I feel uncomfortable being here to go on this motion. I think it is very well publicized that my business did have a loan with the BDC, so I would like it known for the record that I have abstained from the vote and left the Chamber. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. She is abstaining from the vote and is leaving the Chamber. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a motion.

I MOVE that this committee recommends that the Financial Administration Act be reviewed to address requirements for accountability frameworks, monitoring and tracking systems and more tools for ensuring compliance with policies, regulations, directives and procedures.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to speak very briefly to this. The lead up to this motion is well outlined in the report. I think it should be reinforced that the Financial Administration Act is where our system of government rests accountability and baseline and standards. As the report indicates, we learned from the Comptroller General that our ability to set out all sorts of criteria and standards and measurements may be there, but the ability in an act to really hold the departments or corporations or staff accountable is very weak. This motion helps for me to advance and enhance our ability to measure, to assess, to evaluate the success or lack of success of the objectives and the kinds of things we want to see in departments. It is going to help me when it comes time to vote on various programs, on various budgets and the targets that departments want to bring forward. So that is why we want to go to the Act to address these requirements. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I MOVE that this committee recommends that it be a condition for all future contribution agreements to include a functioning, monitoring and reporting system to ensure compliance with Government of the Northwest Territories objectives;

AND FURTHER that the Financial Administration Act be reviewed to address requirements for accountability frameworks, monitoring and tracking systems and more tools for ensuring third party compliance with Government of the Northwest Territories objectives. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a motion as well. Mr. Chairman,

I MOVE that the Legislative Assembly request the Auditor General for Canada to conduct an independent review of government contracting to ascertain the assessment of areas of risk to government.

The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried. Mr. Nitah.