Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Krutko on June 21, 2000, regarding preservation of aboriginal languages.
On January 5, 2000, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada entered into a five-year renewal of the Canada-Northwest Territories Cooperation Agreement on French and Aboriginal Languages in the Northwest Territories. The agreement covers fiscal years 1999-2000 to 2003-2004. In each year of the agreement, $1.9 million is to be provided for aboriginal languages and $1.6 million for French.
There was a delay in the signing of the agreement that made it difficult for the GNWT and non-government organizations to fully spend their 1999-2000 allocations. The GNWT successfully negotiated with the federal government an agreement to carry over anticipated surplus funds from 1999-2000. Six hundred thousand dollars was approved as a carryover in the aboriginal languages allocation, to be spread over two years, and $75,000 was approved as a one-year carryover in the French language allocation. These amounts were determined based on expenditures projected by all departments and non-government recipients.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment anticipates that a small amount of the funds for which we projected expenditures in 1999-2000 will not have been spent. However, we will not have full accounting completed until the end of July at the earliest. The Department can provide details on lapsed funds once those figures become available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.