Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, in this area, hopefully we will see the proposals moving along and I look forward to the commitments when they are filled.

Another area that committee members raised was adherence to the Financial Administration Act. Understanding the Minister said he would work along with Members to do notification, we have had a number of instances in the last while that as a result, this attention was raised. Knowing it is a matter of interpretation, or how things would fall out, just how to get that information out to Members in a timely fashion. Even though, for example, a project can contain multiple contracts, it can be deemed as one project and voted in one allotment, but could have numerous contracts that fall within that. Each contract is a legal document.

When you go to different contractors along a system, highways, for example, or even in large construction projects, because each tender that is let out is a legal document and a company can sue on that and make complaints, or visa versa, I guess, that is just a matter of informing Members of that and other departments. This is where I see the mandate of the secretariat, to ensure all of the departments are following the Financial Administration Act so we will not run into the kind of problems that were raised a number of months ago. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I take that more as advice than a question. We certainly will be as diligent as possible and use good judgment in disclosing contracts, and trying to provide timely and thorough information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is the last area for me around the issue of mandates and what departments are doing in increasing their roles in other areas. Has there been a change in the FMBS mandate, the establishment policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, no, there has not been any change in the establishment policy. Until we decide what options there are, we felt we would carry on this way for the time being. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. General comments? Detail? Page 2-35, directorate, operations expense, total operations expense, $6,866,000. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In this year's mains, we had $1,705,000 for other expenses. In these main estimates we are looking at, we have $2,858,0000 for other expenses. What has caused that million-dollar increase?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the million-dollar difference is the money that is in for the hydro unit. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. While I think this is a good initiative, I am just echoing Mr. Krutko's comments about its placement and look forward to hearing from the government on where they would recommend these initiatives be placed, to move them from one of the central agencies to a program area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. No question there. Page 2-35, directorate, operations expense, total operations expense, $6,866,000. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to the staff housing, this was something that was an initiative in the 13th Assembly, to sell off staff housing and get out of that market. I see we are still in it.

My concern is there is another initiative within this government to look at the selling off of the Housing Corporation units in our communities. I think with our experience of selling staff houses from the government, we find ourselves probably worse off now than we were before, when we obtained housing for staff in small communities, and where you had housing units available for the nurses, the teachers and other people in our communities.

My concern is if we continue to sell off all of the assets of this government, eventually we may find ourselves in a situation where we do not have a market that we can turn to, or we can turn to the private sector to provide those houses.

I would like to ask the Minister, where are we in staff housing initiatives in FMBS? How many more units do we have out there that still fall under the elimination of staff housing in this government?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, selling off the staff housing has caused some squeezes, where we have been short of houses in some situations. It is a program that it was time for the government to get out of. We have saved somewhere in the neighbourhood of $25 million by not staying with staff housing.

Our approach as a government, instead of us owning and providing housing, is to stimulate the private market. There are a number of initiatives announced in the Budget Address to do that, particularly in smaller communities. I think between our initiatives and working with the Housing Corporation, a better route for us, rather than owning houses, is to try to get the private market built up as quickly as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My other question to the Minister was how many units does this government still maintain?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, the government currently maintains 24 units. I can give the community breakdown, if you want. There are six in Fort Liard, two in Fort Resolution, two in Fort Simpson, one in Wha Ti, four in Deline, five in Fort Good Hope, one in Fort McPherson, one in Paulatuk, one in Sachs Harbour and one in Tuktoyaktuk. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is there a possibility of winding down this program and getting out of the housing market once and for all by, say, allocating it to the local housing authorities or community organizations, such as the band or hamlet council? I think this thing has been on the books for a while, since 1995. I think we should get it off the books once and for all and leave housing with the housing association. This thing has been carrying on for some time and the goal was to eventually get out of all housing. Is there a possibility of allocating those units to organizations within those communities or municipalities?