Mr. Chairman, the answer is yes, it should tell us how and when to make those types of adjustments. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are a number of areas I would like to go into with this department. The earlier discussions and questions going on versus the knowledge management strategy and the old term that use to be called informatics strategy. It is good to hear the department is looking at coordination. I recall during my term in the 13th Assembly that we raised those very issues when it came forward, that we needed to have some coordination here. We were told that it would definitely be something that would be considered and looked into. We were told we needed to do all this work. It is good to see that it has finally come through and surfaced.

But unfortunately, we have expended millions of dollars on separate systems. Each department has gone and hired their own informatics staff and their own programs. They have dedicated rooms in each of their buildings that are hardwired, as they call it, to these new computer systems that are up and running.

Hopefully, we will get something that will get these systems to talk to each other, not throw them out and get a whole new set of systems for millions of dollars once again.

But the areas I would like to concentrate on are very similar. It is one of the upgrades that happened. It is called the PeopleSoft area. The committee made a report on that system, that it was to take over two other systems. Can the Minister confirm that the PeopleSoft system was to take over the Government Human Resources System and Human Resources Information System? And they are both components of the FIS, I believe. Can that be confirmed? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, yes, the PeopleSoft program will take over the GHRS, the human resources system and also the highline pay system. Neither of these systems are part of FIS. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So it will take over the highline pay system and the human resources system. We have seen over the last bit the expenditures on the PeopleSoft area and the increase in the staff that is required to operate the PeopleSoft system. I have seen a lot of training occur in regions as well to bring them online with this PeopleSoft system.

What is the net change from this government human system and the highline pay system? There has to be existing staff in those areas. So in fact with addition of new positions for the PeopleSoft system and these other two systems that are going to be retired, I take it, is there a net growth in staff to operate the PeopleSoft system? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, in terms of the Member's question with regard to people and the number of staff who work to operate these systems, we are still working through some of the difficulties with the PeopleSoft system. But once it is up and running, we expect it should be able to be managed and operated with the same number of people we currently have.

I might add that as well as taking over the two programs, it also has more capacity then the other two did combined or separately. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, two points here for clarification. One is, we will be able to operate with any existing staff that is there. Is that existing, that is under PeopleSoft alone or is that existing with PeopleSoft and the staff that is running these two other systems?

The other question is, when there is more capacity that is a concern as well because that capacity takes up a lot of bandwidth, I believe, when it comes to dealing with communities and regions. Is that the case?

Mr. Chairman, the PeopleSoft, once it is up and running, will be able to be operated using the same number of people that we are currently using for the highline and the GHRS system, so there are no additional people required.

In terms of the extra capacity, I do not think that it takes up extra bandwidth, I just think that the system is able to do more than the other two systems.

Maybe I will just ask Mr. Voytilla to add a bit more to what I said. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other area I would like to get more clarification on was the information the Minister provided to the committee regarding the staff housing situation. There is an area here where there is provision for resolution of historical excess building under discussion with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation. Can the Minister update the Members as to this little note of the building situation with the Housing Corporation?

Mr. Chairman, there has been an ongoing disagreement or dispute with the Housing Corporation going back to 1996-1997, in terms of what is billable. I believe that over the years since 1996-1997, there is about $1 million that is in dispute. We believe that we can settle that dispute for the amount that is included in the interim. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is it the same dispute communities have when they take over a building that has been transferred to them? I have heard Mr. Nitah on a number of occasions in this forum and in committee talk about the housing transferred to communities. They find that they do not have enough dollars to maintain them. Maybe the Minister could update us on that.

As well, one other comment, Mr. Chairman. The Minister stated that within the existing staff that run the highline pay system and the government human resources system, they would be able to run the PeopleSoft program. What does that mean for the new staff that was taken on for the PeopleSoft system, seeing that this government has the unofficial no-layoff policy?

Mr. Chairman, I will answer the first one and then maybe get clarification on the second one. In terms of the billing dispute between the Housing Corporation and Financial Management Board Secretariat, the dispute comes about because the agreement with the Housing Corporation requires that they provide actual information on the cost of operating the housing units. The Housing Corporation has not been able to provide those. Instead what they do is average out the costs with the housing associations and provide that, but we are not confident that is exactly the cost of maintaining the government owned housing units as compared to the ones that the Housing Corporation uses. It is more the method that is used for calculating the billing costs. I am not sure that is the same dispute that communities have. It may, in some cases, be the same and other cases may be different.

The second question, Mr. Chairman, I was not clear on. I would appreciate clarification. Thank you.