Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess what I really would like to do is put some pressure on the government to make sure that they reallocate from within, that they look for opportunities to economize and that they try not to run a surplus but to live within their budget. I will not know, because under the terms we operate, we will not see an interim financial statement until usually the end of September. Sometime in September, we are expected to get a copy of the interim financial statements.

So, I will not know until next September whether or not there has been a lapse. Yet I am going to be expected, in May or June, to approve a budget in which the government could quite easily point to the numbers and say what it took to operate until the end of the year and, therefore, multiple that by whatever the ratio is for the full year and justify their expenditures this way. I am not anxious to see that. I would like to make it difficult for the government to avoid being very vigilante about monies. They should make sure they look in every nook and cranny to ensure that they have expended what is within their budget right now rather than agreeing to an increase in funds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I think to try to help the Member overcome the problem he is identifying for himself, we could offer, in June, as part of the main estimates, a report. This report would have to be unaudited and would be on what the actual expenditures are. We cannot speed up the audited report but we could provide more detail at main estimates time. It would be unaudited but it would certainly be helpful to overcome the problem that has been identified. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I, as well, have concerns about the supplementary appropriation. Based on the spending habits I have seen so far, I do not share the Minister's optimism that there, in fact, will be any lapses, that if the money is given, it will be spent. I also know with a budget the size of the Executive's, knowing government and knowing how programs are set up, there is slippage and fudge factors built in all over the place to move that kind of money around to be able to do things. The issue to me is very clear. If this goes through the way it is, we are basically agreeing to all the things that caused me such concern in the interim appropriation, which the Executive recognized by making the motion to cut $100,000. We are going to set the foundation. I do not think this is too big a contradiction.

I also have the continued problem of leading by example. Spending this kind of money is over and above when we look at the interim appropriation. It has 18 percent deliberate growth and tells the people we are deferring $10 million in capital. We have no money for adult education programs. The municipalities are on notice that there will be cuts coming. For us in the Legislature and in the Executive to say do as we say, not as we do, we will spend and you show restraint...it is too much for me, Mr. Chairman, and it is unsupportable. I think there has to be some demonstration that they have heard. They have heard on one hand with the interim appropriation but they want to lock it in by having all the key pieces in the supplementary appropriation. I, as well, have significant concerns about the Executive portion of the supplementary appropriation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hear very loud and clearly what the Members are saying in terms of the need to be operating in an atmosphere of restraint and responsibility. We hear that. I agree with that. I do not have a problem with that at all. I think we will need to operate that way for not just this supplementary period but for the next fiscal year and for years to come. I agree with that. The problem we have, Mr. Chairman, as I mentioned earlier and I will repeat myself, is the supplementary period is over tomorrow. We can be very diligent tomorrow on what we spend, I guess. This period ends here. There is not much more we can do. I am not being glib in saying that. I am serious. This is for this supplementary period. We will do everything we can when it comes to doing our main estimates in June. As I said, we can give an unaudited report and provide all the information we can to make sure that you are comfortable that we are being responsible. As I said earlier, if there is surplus money, it will be lapsed. We will identify what that is. There is not a lot that I can do on the last day of the fiscal year to change this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The debate that we are having right now really defines a classic conundrum in what I anticipated political life might be about. Here we are, literally at the eleventh minute or the eleventh hour, facing a situation that the government says is intractable, cannot be remedied or addressed. Yet, I reflect back on the day in this Assembly, about ten weeks ago, when we elected the Cabinet and asked them to go forward with confidence to be a good government. They had our vote. The expectation, Mr. Chairman, knowing that we were facing a big money problem, was that the new Cabinet would go ahead with confidence but also with care and prudent action in how they were going to set the tone. The expenditures and the programs in the interim budget all have merit. The programs, likewise, for this supplementary appropriation, on their own, have merit.

On the whole, Mr. Chairman, they do not reflect the spirit of recognizing our situation, of really and truly going that extra mile and demonstrating that leadership that could have been there and should have been there. It could have sent a signal, not just to the Members on the other side, but to all of the people in the Northwest Territories, that we are paying attention. The signal we are sending, I do not think, is one of prudent management, even in this relatively small amount, and I do respect the Minister's comment about micro-management. But in the light of the program, the capital and the service reductions that we have recognized and that the government has incorporated in the coming four months of expenditures, we were, indeed, looking for more care and more prudence in how things were going to be managed in the last few weeks of this fiscal year. The challenge was to look within and manage existing resources. This is where we have this conundrum.

The Department of the Executive seems to have been singled out here. This is not by accident. I would reflect on an aspect of the department, where the opening budget, when it started out for the fiscal year 1999-2000, was for $30.3 million. Mr. Chairman, if we pass this fourth supplementary, the budget for the Executive will be $38 million. Mr. Chairman, this is an increase of $8 million within one fiscal year. I know that this government cannot and should not take full responsibility for that very substantial increase but it is a reflection on the Department of the Executive. Mr. Chairman, this is one that, indeed, has the biggest scope, the biggest opportunity to do things and stretch great new initiatives, do good things. But with that opportunity is a responsibility to manage prudently and carefully.

I do not know, Mr. Chairman, if I have really contributed anything new to the argument or the discussion, but I wanted to state my position on the committee's difficulty with this expenditure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think any government is measured on two things. First, it is based on what it achieves and secondly, on the level of fiscal responsibility it shows in managing public money. In terms of our government, we have set up what we believe is required to achieve a tall order of priorities that we have collectively set. This is a big piece of what our purpose is. We need to have the ability to achieve that. Otherwise, if we just zero in on the fiscal responsibility, which is very important, then we are not fulfilling our obligation to the public. On the fiscal responsibility side, I hear the Member loud and clear. I agree with him. I agree with all the comments in terms of the need to be fiscally responsible. At the same time, we have to achieve what we said we would achieve. It is a matter of having a balance between the two. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I was just wondering if I could get some information from the Minister. May I get a clarification as to what period this Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, is covering?

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, the Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, covers the whole year. It covers some of the items that have not been included in earlier supplementaries. I think the main items that are in question really cover close to a three-month period. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I should probably not speak for others, but for the benefit of the new Members, and especially for myself, I would ask for some clarification. I see this is the fourth supplementary appropriation, it is not the first one this year. Could the Minister explain the circumstances under which a supplementary appropriation is brought into the House?

Mr. Chairman, I will ask Lew Voytilla to explain this. He is the expert of all supplementaries. Thank you.