Item 7, oral questions. Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Deputy Premier or the House Leader, Mr. Speaker. According to the report of the auditor general of the Northwest Territories, Legislative Assembly, 2002, about 85 cents of each dollar of grants and contributions goes to health, education boards, municipalities and local housing authorities. The auditor general has also posed a question that I would like to pose to the House Leader. How does the government know it's getting the results that it wants? Thank you.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the government has been working for a number of years on accountability and each year we table a document called Towards Improved Accountability. It's through that document, that we are able to track our results. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Wouldn't the Minister agree though that as far as scrutiny at this level, in this Legislative Assembly goes, it seems to be lacking in many areas? For instance, the Stanton board is one that comes to mind. It would present its budget to the Minister of Health and Social Services, but it's not something that would come before this Assembly except in a board contribution line. Wouldn't the Minister agree that there is a lack of accountability at this level when it comes to boards and other third party delivery agents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, there is certainly room for improvement in my view in the accountability of boards to the government. That is the one reason we continue to work on improving our performance and results measures. We encourage all government employees to participate and a high percentage of them do in training on performance measurement. We would like to see the same accountability applied to boards as well while respecting their roles and responsibilities and the authority that they have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to appointed boards -- it's different for elected boards, I will acknowledge that - and the fact that many of those boards have no reporting requirement to this Assembly, to this House, oftentimes people, constituents and residents will allege that a Minister is running a board. What does the Minister of Finance say when people allege that any Minister is running a board? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, different boards have different responsibilities. It goes further than just whether they are elected or whether they are appointed. We have some appointed boards that have a very clear mandate and a very clear responsibility. They have to have audited reports done on their business annually. So, Mr. Speaker, all of the results of the health boards are audited. Health boards, education boards, all boards have to account to us for the dollars we provide them with. It is different, Mr. Speaker, with regard to education boards where there is more distance between us and the boards. We provide them with a contribution. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad the Minister mentioned audited financial statements. I think that's an important point to hit on here. That's certainly one thing, Mr. Speaker, and while it is important it simply tells us that money has been expended properly. It doesn't speak to decisions being made, programs and services being delivered. Would the Minister acknowledge then, that while we may be able to discern whether money is being expended properly, it's entirely another matter to determine whether or not the services being delivered are the services the people want and the services this Assembly has tasked and mandated those boards with. Thank you.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly we always want to be improving the quality of service, that the boards are delivering. We want to make sure it is the service the public expects. Having public debate on the performance of boards and accountability of boards is certainly something I would encourage. We are doing, Mr. Speaker, training, performance and measurement of results. We do that within government. We also want to do it with all the boards and agencies that we contribute funding to to ensure that what they are doing is what people expect of those boards and agencies. Thank you.

Item 7, oral questions. Mr. Nitah.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a very simple answer. All earned income. Thank you.

Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated yesterday afternoon, we are trying to reconcile all the other aspects of what they deem to be earned income, so we are still trying to resolve that at this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.