Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did discuss this with the board last week. I advised them of the change and that it was deferred. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Can he tell us whether he informed the Aurora College Board of Governors of the deferral? Did he give them the specifics of the deferral?

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not believe I did. I stand to be corrected on that. I do not believe I gave them the timing of deferral.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to raise further concerns in this area. Knowing we are the 14th Assembly, and heading in a new direction, I am getting a little concerned with the direction we are going in. There used to be a heads up if something was coming up. However, we are finding out in this forum. That does not leave one with a good feeling. It leaves a very grey, overcast situation, as I see it. I understand the difficulties with funding, but that was one of the issues of going with P3, knowing that you did not have to outlay a huge amount of dollars to begin with.

Changing it into a capital program has, the way I see it, definitely put this program back. I still do not believe this is wise decision. I register my strongest concerns with what has happened here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. That was mostly a comment. Does the Minister wish to respond to that?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There are hard decisions that have to be made, Mr. Chairman. We were advised by FMBS that we needed to meet certain requirements. Those decisions are tough to make. I appreciate the Member's concern about notification. I understand his comments. I certainly apologize to him for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the debate, questions and discussions in the House on this particular department definitely rekindles my strong concern about the fact that we are once again seeing clear demonstrations of a double standard. We are going to have before us soon a department where it is going to come up with 22 percent new growth. We have the Executive on hold because of the credible growth there. We are seeing MLA after MLA around this table raising concerns and being ready for cuts in their communities. To me, I cannot fathom that kind of approach or that kind of expectation. What are we supposed to do in the communities? Are we supposed to sit here quietly and accept this? We have to deal with all these over-expenditures in other areas.

There are going to be problems with this adult education program. Friday at 5:00 p.m. will be their last day. I would like the Minister to clarify, do they know that there is no money in the budget and that there are no plans to put money into the budget and that Friday is their last day? When will the Minister provide a list of the communities that will have programs affected in their constituencies? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, we will hopefully have the list for the Members tomorrow.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will repeat the first part of the question. I know there is a standard clause in every contract or funding agreement with the NGOs. The clause says it is dependent on funding availability. In this particular case, there are programs being run, for which the funding stops three days from now at midnight.

Has the department made the effort to let them know? Hopefully, we are not just relying on people, or these NGOs checking their agreement and realizing that they have to see if there is going to be any more funding. Do they know? Are they being given some heads up, so that at the very least, they can try to brace themselves for the cut? So they can do whatever they have to do, in terms of some sort of transition to alternate funding, if it is available, or wrap up of their program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am informed that the department has been very clear with the NGOs. We are certainly prepared to check with NGOs for their awareness of this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Could the Minister clarify what he means by "the department has been clear"? Have they been talked to recently in the last week? Has there been any kind of formal correspondence? I am not sure what "the department has been clear" means. Did they just highlight the clause when they signed the agreement a year ago? I am not sure what that means. Could the Minister elaborate, please?

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There is no formal process. When the funding was made, it was very clear it was a one year funding and that the program was sunsetting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister is telling me that there was contact a year ago, and that is the last clarification that was provided by the department. Is that what he is saying?

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ootes.