Does the committee agree that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, is ready for third reading?

Bill 3 is now ready for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you to your witness. As we agreed, we will move on to Bill 4, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 1, 2001-2002. I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the bill if he has any comments. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 1 requests authority for operations expenditure appropriations of $25,107,974 and capital investment appropriations of $31,871,000.

The request for operations expenditure funding exceeds the supplementary reserve in the 2001-2002 Main Estimates by $2 million.

Major items included in the operations expenditure request are as follows:

1. $6.6 million for programs associated with the Maximizing Northern Employment initiatives. A special warrant was approved for $4 million of this funding to ensure programs were in place for students and new graduates whose schooling ended in April.
2. $6.8 million for the Department of Health and Social Services to address forced growth in the health boards, standardized physician contracts, and operating costs of the Yellowknife medical clinics. The 2001-2002 supplementary reserve had included $6 million for forced growth by the department.
3. $1.8 million for startup and operating costs associated with the implementation of the Highway Investment Strategy.
4. $2 million for required investments related to Mackenzie Valley development projects.
5. $1.8 million for the Departments of Health and Social Services and Education, Culture and Employment for the initiatives outlined in the Early Childhood Development Action Plan. A separate supplementary reserve of $2 million was established for these initiatives in the 2001-2002 Main Estimates.

The request for additional investment exceeds the budgeted reserve by $23 million. However, the net impact on the government's accumulated cash position is only $5 million. This is due to:

1. Advancing $10.7 million of the cash flow for the Inuvik Regional Health and Social Services Centre, which was accelerated due to the successful negotiations for the design and construction of the facility; and
2. 2000-2001 capital appropriation lapses, which were $7 million higher than estimated.

The additional capital investment includes $17 million in capital carryovers from the 2000-2001 fiscal year. The funding was approved and lapsed in 2000-2001.

Mr. Chairman, I am prepared to review the details of the supplementary appropriation requests. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. There is no committee report. Are there any general comments on the Minister's opening statement? At this time, I would like to ask the Minister if he will be bringing in witnesses.

Mr. Chairman, yes, I would.

Does the committee agree?

Sergeant-at-Arms, can you escort the witnesses in please? Mr. Minister, can you introduce your witness for the record?

Mr. Chairman, with me is Lew Voytilla, secretary to the Financial Management Board. Thank you.

Welcome. General comments to Bill 4, Supplementary Appropriation Act. Detail? Can I have you move to, in regard to supplementary appropriation, under the Executive, operation expenditures, Cabinet Secretariat. There is no numbering on these pages, but that is where we will start from. Has everybody found it? Executive, operation expenditures, Cabinet Secretariat, special warrants, $3,456,000. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am just wondering, under the $3,456,000 that we see for Maximizing Northern Employment initiatives here, can the Minister tell us what is the total amount proposed in this fiscal year for Maximizing Northern Employment?

Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, up to today, the total amount is about $8 million. We anticipate that it could be as much as $3 million more.

General comments. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know when we first heard about the initiative, we were told that the reserve for it would be about $5 million. We are talking now about more than double that, if I hear the Minister right, going up to $11 million. I believe, in this supp alone, there is about $6.4 million. So what is leading to the move from a program that was announced at about $5 million to more than doubling the program, in such a short period of time?

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, the $5 million we had initially estimated is a holding figure that we had at the time, but what we have found is that there are tremendous opportunities out there. There are also a lot of candidates for training and employment programs and, as initiatives come forward, they are considered.

I think this is a good initiative in getting our people employed and on the job as our economy speeds up. We are responding to the initiatives as they are coming forward.

Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not think that anybody in this House would disagree with the Minister's characterization that this is a very important program and that we want to see it maximized.

My interest and concern comes from...is this a bottomless pit? Do we have unlimited funds that we can put into this? I think I heard earlier today, the Minister talk about us having more expenditures in terms of cash than we have revenues this year. He just told us that we can expect to see a further $3 million in supplementaries, if I heard him correctly, on this initiative alone.

My question is, is there a limit that the Minister has in mind for this program for this year or is it one that is open-ended, depending on the initiatives that come forward?

The Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, I expect that the $8 million, plus an estimated $3 million more, is the limit that we would want to place on this.

Having said that, I have to say this is a good investment. I think it is worth putting money into our people. If and when we do reach the $11 million, we have to look very hard at whether or not that is where we are going to cap the program or whether there still are initiatives out there that are worth putting money in.

I do not see it as a bottomless pit. I see it as an investment. I think it can be a good investment if we do it right. I am optimistic, given the initiatives underway, that this is going to give us returns in the end. Thank you.

Mr. Dent.