Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you. Yesterday, after his statement, we undertook to try to find copies of the policies and it is not on the Internet. Our researchers could not find it. I was wondering if that information could be made public? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lakes, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as in my Member's statement, I am raising concerns on behalf of a family in my community. This, I believe, goes to the heart of government and how we treat our employees, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked questions about the Financial Administration Act and how this government tends to blend things in from one department to another, or inter-department transfers, but when it comes to dealing with employees, we hold the rules hard and fast.

I know that the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat has worked on this issue along with a couple of the other Ministers, to try to see if some solutions can come out. The only avenue that seems left is in the area, where it comes to employees that were under Transportation and eligible for VTA? When they existed, and were transferred to the Government of the NWT. I am aware that in arbitration, this situation went to arbitration when the government denied that and the government lost on the arbitration. So the only avenue that seems to be left open is if this process is moved along.

My understanding is if the employee shows receipts, actual receipts of the situation, and in some cases, signs statutory declarations, that a payment would be worked on and paid out, and that seems to be the only issue left here.

So I would like to know from the Finance Minister, where does this situation sit when it comes to Transportation employees and the payout? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I assure the Member that myself and my department certainly take into consideration the family's dilemma and we are sorry that kind of situation happens to people, but we are doing everything we can to try to help. We cannot violate the Financial Administration Act knowingly. We just cannot do that as a government, so we have to live within that Act.

Now, with regard to the employees who were federal employees and who transferred over to the Government of the NWT and were eligible for VTA assistance, that is being looked at as I speak. I will tell you that the family has given our department some receipts, and where we have receipts we are certainly able to take those into account as we determine how much they would be eligible for.

In terms of statutory declarations, the department is working, as we speak, with those as well to try to verify that the claims by the family are true and reasonably accurate. We are looking for anything. It could be just itineraries, boarding passes, anything at all that would verify that their family actually did do some of the traveling that they are claiming.

So we are trying to be compassionate with it and I think the department is working hard to settle this one. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not to be totally negative, I know that the Minister and his staff have been working hard to try and come up with some solution and I thank him for that, but the other concern here comes from the fact that, and the Minister said himself, knowingly, they cannot go outside the Financial Administration Act. That brings some concern.

How long will this take? This family is going to be out of their place as the banks walk in, knowing that banks do not seem to have hearts when it comes to collections, locking the door as of Sunday. So is there any opportunity or is there a possibility of dealing with this situation before we find them out in a real crisis? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I referenced knowingly violating the Financial Administration Act because I know there are, inevitably, in an organization the size of the Government of the Northwest Territories, mistakes that are made and some situations happen and we have to correct them later on.

Once we are asked, we know what the situation is and we know what the act says, we just cannot violate it. With regard to the VTA, I got a note this morning saying that the staff are aiming at noon today and my staff upstairs will be bringing me information as they find out. So we are working on this as we speak and we are aiming at getting it done by noon, or as quickly as we can, today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here is definitely the opportunity for the Minister and the government to go from villains to heroes, if this can be pulled off and I would encourage the Minister to continue to work on that.

Is someone dealing with the employee, at least informing him of the situation as things are progressing? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker. No, I do not think anyone from our department is dealing directly with the family at this point. I think they will be dealing with them through the region as soon as they get what they need. In terms of the options, the department is definitely talking to them about what receipts, what statutory declarations, what evidence they have of travel. So at that level they are but, in terms of counselling them further than that, I do not believe the department is providing that kind of advice, if that is what the Member is asking. As far as getting information, we definitely are talking to them.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Final supplementary, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Here is an opportunity, as one colleague had mentioned, to share the milk and honey from the land of good fortune, in a sense.

Can the Minister confirm with me that somebody will be speaking to them, because on a number of occasions, in dealing with this between myself, the Minister, and his staff, and some of the other Ministers, some of the information did not get to the individual involved here. Can he commit to making sure that they are aware of this situation as things progress? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Handley.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. Someone from my department will be in touch with the family as soon as we have the information needed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat. In light of the report that Mrs. Groenewegen rolled out in the House, the Review of the Northwest Territories Child Welfare Services, it looks like, as she mentioned, a really great report.

She also prefaced it by saying these folks have done work in every other region in Canada, so obviously, nobody is more qualified to make recommendations in this area than they are.

Obviously, these folks have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of human resources. One of their main recommendations to us was that this government needs a comprehensive Northwest Territories Human Resource Development Strategy. I am wondering how the Minister will act on this recommendation. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a motion passed in the House to create a Public Service Commission. In the process of establishing that sort of organization we will, undoubtedly, have to have some policies, some directions, some guidelines, and maybe even a strategy, if we can call all of that a strategy.

We will need some guidelines and direction for this new commission. So I expect that in the process of reviewing the setting of it up, that we will develop what he is referring to as a strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.