Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe there have been 23 contracts let on the Dempster Highway. Twenty-three contracts to an expenditure of $5 million. There are 23 contracts in that framework of the $5 million. Out of that, two projects have been deferred in my riding, which is, as far as I can see, a major change in regard to the 23 contracts. Now there are 21 contracts. That is a major change with regard to how the expenditure is taking place.

Again, I would like to ask the Minister, have you been notified that any deferrals to any capital projects have been submitted to your department?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me say again that when it comes to the changes within the contracts, the contracts that are within the project, that is not an issue that I would monitor as a Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board. That is something between the Minister of Transportation and his department and the MLAs who may be impacted by it. However, it is not a violation of the Financial Administration Manual or act to be moving monies or timing around on these individual contracts. That is between the department and the Minister and whoever else may be affected.

All I can say, as Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, is that there has not been any violation of the Financial Administration Act or manual. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Handley. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta has a point of order.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I met with the Minister on this matter yesterday evening. He ensured me that section 23 of the act, 23(b), was definitely not adhered to. That is my point of order. I believe he is misleading the House.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Would you please just repeat the last part of your point of order concerning the allegation?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did meet with the Minister on this matter yesterday evening to get clarification in regard to the directive and whether he had checked into it. He assured me that he had checked into it, under guideline 4.3(b), and he stated to me, and he had it written out on his piece of paper, that that section was not adhered to by the Department of Transportation.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Krutko, would you also clarify which Minister you are referring to, please?

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

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Chair is having some difficulty in determining whether this is a point of order to a matter that has occurred within the House as far as the procedure is concerned. This matter deals with a conversation that took place outside of the House and may not have had any effect on the procedures within the House.

I do not believe that the Member has a point of order at this time. I am going to refer to a quotation from Beauchesne's 6th Edition Parliamentary Rules, on acceptance of the word of a Member, under section 494:

It has been formally ruled by Speakers that statements by Members respecting themselves and particularly within their own knowledge must be accepted. It is not unparliamentary temperately to criticize statements made by Members as being contrary to the facts. That no imputation of intentional falsehood is permissible. On rare occasions, this may result in the House having to accept two contradictory accounts of the same incident.

I am going to ask the Minister if he wishes to comment on that. He may do so only if he chooses to. If he does not choose to, he does not need to. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, since the Member raised my conversation with him, let me clarify what was discussed. Mr. Krutko and I did discuss the Financial Administration Manual, section 4.3(b), which basically says that where there is a major adjustment within a project, both in scope or in timing, then it is necessary for the Minister to advise the appropriate MLA and standing committee.

My comment in the discussion with Mr. Krutko was that there seemed to be a lack of clarity of where the boundary was between Mr. Krutko's riding and Inuvik Boot Lake. This was in reference to Campbell Creek. What I have said is that Mr. Steen had not been aware that a piece of the highway, the Campbell Creek portion, was in Inuvik Boot Lake, and therefore inadvertently moved part of a contract from here that was being done today to finish some work over here. That is as far as it went. That is not a violation of this particular section, but that seems to be the crux of the problem, that there was clarity between whose constituency this was in.

Let me say that the whole project is one project, right from kilometre zero to kilometre 257. I think there may have been an innocent moving of money between...

Speaker's Ruling

Thank you, Minister Handley, I think your comments were adequate.

At this time, I am going to rule that there is no point of order. This matter was in conversation that we have no record of in the House. It does not interfere with the procedures in the House and therefore there is no point of order.

Members will note that we did stop the clock during this bit of a debate in order to continue on with question period. Question period can now again resume. Next on my list is the honourable Member for Frame Lake. I notice a few hands up here. Why do you rise? The Member for Weledeh rises on a point of privilege. Mr. Handley, you may speak to your point of privilege.

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, there has been an accusation that I misled the House. I would like to have that withdrawn. Thank you.

Thank you. The Member has asked if the accusation of misleading the House would be withdrawn by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, and this is on a point of privilege. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the point of privilege, I believe the Minister's response to the questions I asked earlier are inconsistent with the reply which he gave, which on the point of privilege, because he did not give this information, which is not consistent with the information he released. I will not withdraw on the point of privilege.

Thank you. I have been informed that it is a point of order rather than a point of privilege, and it has been addressed now.

-- Interjection

It has not yet been withdrawn, I am told. Mr. Krutko, there has been a request to withdraw those comments that you had made concerning the honourable Minister. Are you prepared to withdraw them? The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, no.

Thank you for your patience. The Chair was just confirming an item. The Chair did hear the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta allege that the honourable Minister for the Financial Management Board had misled the House. By rules of Parliament, it would be unparliamentary to do such a thing. The Chair will again ask the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta to withdraw that remark. Take it back.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of proceeding, I will take it back.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The remarks that were made to the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board have been taken back. Now we may proceed. The honourable Member for the Sahtu had his hand up. For what reason?

Point of Order

Mr. Speaker, it is a point of order. The House is asked through you to have a serious allegation withdrawn. The allegation as stated, as I heard it, is withdrawn. There is no sincerity in it. It is made simply for the point of saying it so it expedites the process of getting on with business. That is not withdrawing an allegation.

I am not sure of the purpose of the comments made by the honourable Member, but it is not the Chair's position to determine the level of sincerity, if any or none, of a comment made. The Chair accepts the fact that the Member has withdrawn the comment and we will let it be at that.

Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Last fall, as part of the plan to retire the deficit that was faced by Stanton Hospital, the board had proposed that the surgical ward be kept closed. I have heard some rumblings that this might be changing at some time. There have been a number of dates suggested for when it might reopen. I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if she could advise the House whether we are going to see the surgical ward reopen, and if so, when?