Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the 2000-2001 interim appropriation request for the Financial Management Board Secretariat is based on the guidelines you have been briefed on and totals 52.3 percent of the original 1999-2000 main estimates. The high percentage, in comparison to last year's main estimates is primarily due to the inclusion of a number of special requirements in the interim bill which were funded through supplementary appropriations last year. Specifically, these are: equal pay litigation; pension reform work; collective bargaining; and implementation of tangible capital assets accounting.

In addition, the Financial Management Board Secretariat, like all other departments, has been required to include the higher employer pension costs for 2000-2001 in this year's appropriation. Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to answer any questions Members may have.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee met with the chair of the Financial Management Board Secretariat and his staff on March 16, 2000 to review the proposed 2000-2001 interim appropriation for the department. The committee made note of the following issues.

Continuing Legal Costs

Committee members were concerned about continuing legal costs for equal pay litigation, pension reform and collective bargaining. The committee asked the Minister how long we would continue to incur legal costs to settle the aforementioned issues. The Minister explained that the pay equity settlement is still being negotiated with PSAC. The government is under the understanding that 83 percent of the potential litigants have reached settlement and a further $33 million may be necessary to reach settlements with the remainder. However, the union is of the position that the settlements are partial payments and the final, overall settlement should be $300 million.

The proposed funding for research and consultation surrounding the pension reform issue is a one-time activity and collective bargaining will always be an ongoing process.

Pension Reform

The committee was also concerned with the funding necessary for pension reform and succeeding fiscal years to ensure the superannuation plan for Government of the Northwest Territories employees is fully funded. The Minister replied that the government is working with the union on cost-effective alternatives to the current pension scheme.

PeopleSoft

Committee members were also concerned with the additional funding requested for the PeopleSoft program. The department informed the committee that the proposed funding is for system upgrades and to fulfill the remainder of the government's contract obligations for PeopleSoft.

Tangible Capital Assets

The committee was concerned with further requests for funding for the tangible capital assets reporting system. Committee members commented that most government departments might not have the qualified staff to ensure their contribution to the valuation and reporting process is met. The Minister replied that the system would be up and running and auditable by March 31, 2001. He further added that departments have qualified staff to complete the necessary tasks for the program. Furthermore, he explained that this initiative might be an ongoing item as the government continually procures or divests infrastructure.

Yes I would, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my right is Lew Voytilla, secretary to the Financial Management Board Secretariat.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to compliment the Minister on his tie. It may be the only new money we have, is that what you are telling us?

I have some very brief comments. I see from looking at the budget that there are a lot of non-discretionary items. There are some that I have concerns about. I would like some clarification, mainly under the directorate.

Could the Minister indicate with staff housing contracts for $1.8 million...is this for housing that we still own? This may be repetitive, but I was not at the Jedi committee meeting, so I am interested in knowing where these contracts are. Are they all occupied housing?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A list of all of the houses and locations was given to the standing committee. Since the Member is not a member of that, I will just go through it very quickly. The costs are for both owned and leased units. By region, in the South Slave, we still have 25 units that are owned and none leased. In the Western Arctic, there are eight owned and nine leased. In the North Slave, ten owned, 16 that are leased for a total of 68 units throughout the Northwest Territories.

The department is continually downsizing and working at transferring the units to hamlets and communities as quickly as we can, but it takes some time. The leased units are units which the government entered into long term leases some time ago. We have them on our hands until the lease runs out or we are able to transfer that lease elsewhere. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This may be too detailed a question. Could the Minster indicate, are there units in communities where there are also problems with housing for essential services? Do we know that? I am thinking of nurses and teachers.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There may be some communities. I am not sure where we have a need for housing for particular purposes. In the case of nurses, any units that are attached to a health centre are not included in the numbers that I gave you here.

It is possible we could have a situation where a house is available, but on the other hand, we have housing needs. The house may not be occupied for some other purpose at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister indicate what the anticipated time is to sell off the remaining houses? I appreciate that the leases may be with us for a while, but of the 68 units that are up for sale on the private market, do they have any idea when we will be out from this particular expense?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We expect to be out of most of them in a year, but it will be probably two years until we can say substantially that we are out of the housing business.