Executive offices, executive, operations expense, Commissioner's office, not previously authorized, negative $6000. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, may I get information as to what the $6000 reduction is in the Commissioner's office? Thank you.

Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, this is a reduction of $6000 in travel. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We are all aware that the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories represents the people of the Territories, and one of the important functions that she performs is to travel and to meet the people. So I would like to know whether or not there is any information from the office as to what the impact of this budget cut will be. Thank you.

Minister of FMBS, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, I agree the Commissioner's office is important to the people of the Northwest Territories but, again, when money is tight, it doesn't hurt any of us to take a look at our travel expenses and find ways of economizing. So the Commissioner has agreed to do that through her office as well. Thank you.

Commissioner's office, not previously authorized, negative $6000. Agreed?

Ministers' offices, not previously authorized, negative $88,000.

Ministers' offices, not previously authorized, negative $88,000. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The detailed information that Mr. Minister so generously provided tells me that $50,000 out of this $88,000 will come from the cut in travel expenses for Ministers' offices. Once again, Ministers' offices perform a similar function as the Commissioner's. I know all the Members, especially the ones outside of Yellowknife, always want to see the Ministers travelling to their communities. We also know that Ministers travel to other federal/provincial meetings to discuss with other Ministers and to advance our agenda. So I'd like to know what is the total budget of the Ministers' travel in the first place, and what percentage this would constitute. Thank you.

Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, I don't have a total figure for Ministers' travel. I could tell you that the total budget for the operating budget for the Executive is $7.523 million, but how it's broken down I don't have that detail. Thank you.

Ministers' offices, not previously authorized, negative $88,000. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The $38,000 remaining out of $88,000 is the travel budget for the Premier. I'm understanding that this is a cut coming out of the fiscal year 2003-2004. We know that the Premier travels extensively to do his work. One way to know the impact of reduction is to know what the original budget was. So $38,000 out of $100,000 is almost 40 percent, whereas $38,000 out of $250,000 is a different figure altogether. So may I get the information from the Minister as to what is the total budget of travel for the Premier?

Mr. Handley.

Mr. Chairman, as I said before, I don't have the budget for the Premier's travel with me, so I don't know what the total budget is right now. I can tell you what the total budget is for the Executive, but not for each item. Thank you.

Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It appears that the detailed information we got handed out to us is not detailed enough after all. I have a question, Mr. Chairman. We know the Premier is one person, and we have six Ministers. The Premier's office will get a cut of $38,000 for one person, but six Ministers will share the cut of $50,000. So what kind of criteria was applied to come up with the dollar figure?

Mr. Handley.