Mr. Speaker, The Standing Committees of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories met from January 15 through January 25, 2001 to review the 2001-2002 Draft Main Estimates for the different Government of the Northwest Territories departments. The 2000-2001 fiscal year was the first time that the Government of the Northwest Territories used tangible capital asset accounting. As we enter into the second year of implementation, adjustments within amortization figures continue to occur. The recent collective agreement between the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) and the Government of the Northwest Territories has resulted in changes in all departments' operations expenses since the 2001/2004 Business Plans. Overall, the collective agreement is estimated to cost the GNWT approximately $7.4 million for the 2000-2001 fiscal year and $13.1 million in the 2001-2002 fiscal year.

Other partners in the review of the GNWT departmental business plans and main estimates are the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development and the Standing Committee on Social Programs. Each standing committee prepares a report covering the review of departments within their envelope and presents their report to the House. Issues that are government-wide in nature were identified and brought forward for this committee to address.