Thank you, Mr. Roland. Thank you, Mr. Braden, for your questions. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Braden pretty well asked all the questions, but I would like to pursue it a little further.

---Laughter

I am referring to items 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9. Again, they are all unaccounted contributions. You gave pretty good explanations previously, so I won't pursue that any further. The question I have is when we talk about accountability, I think that's the key thing that has to be dealt with, especially when we start invoicing the companies that have to make payments. I think it's the responsibility of the Minister to ensure his staff are accountable to get this done. You mentioned earlier that there are ways to do that, but once a person gets a loan, it's very important that your department ensure that the staff is on the ball to make sure that collections are being made. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I guess first of all, we would hope we wouldn't be to the point where my department was called into the picture, because that is when things have gone really bad and it's collection time. Each department would be in charge of how they deal with the organization that received a contribution. In the initial stages, we want to keep that relationship going in a positive way.

The other part of it is from our side, the policy is quite clear on what needs to happen and the process we follow. I think that's why we also hold our senior staff accountable for how those policies are being worked into the system. Granted, again, there are times when a file, whether a letter went out and when it was received back, when the next call was made or how long between calls, when you can do further follow-up, as we stated. In this case of debts being written off, it doesn't release the individuals from the debt and we continue to monitor. Depending on the file workload, there could be some time between the checks that happen, but they are being followed to the best of our abilities that we have within resources we operate in and our environment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Braden indicated there was over $400,000 being written off this

year. Is this a trend that this government is doing in terms of writing debts off? Have you seen this trend from the past few years around this figure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, first of all, when we look at the amount of $411,000, it is a substantial amount and that is why we try to improve on the way we get things done and the third-party accountability framework and how we work with our own staff and that process.

This has not been a growing trend. It fluctuates from one cycle to the next. For example, in 2000-01, the total amount for write-offs was $2.6 million; for 2002-03, it was $134,000; in 2003-04, $162,000. The total amount we are looking at for 2004-05 is in the neighbourhood of $500,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems that it's a bit of a rollercoaster here in the Northwest Territories in terms of debt write-off. Does the department have an analysis of expected risks for this year or next year in terms of debt write-offs? Can you crystal ball in terms of what may be expected next year and the potential development in the NWT? In going into business and some ventures, there is some degree of risk. You go through the process of having trust in the organization. Personally, I lend money out and I am not 100 percent sure it's going to come back. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and it's not a good feeling. You know the person you are going to lend money to is hoping to pay it back. Is there a percentage that we expect to lose, a minimum for each year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we do not build into our fiscal framework or plans a loss percentage, I guess you could say. We don't have that. What we do count on is departments coming forward to us on a yearly basis saying that these files, whatever they would be, are doubtful now and we don't think we can receive any funds back in those areas. At that point, we would put it into the system and the departments would build into their budget process a loss as it comes down to it and we follow through with the process we are at today. On an annual basis in budget planning cycles, we have not built in a percentage of loss we might see because it fluctuates quite a bit, as I have just stated, from $2 million to $100,000. It could go back up again. It all depends on how things work out in that year and if we have some big losses. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My last question to the Minister. I will look forward to the Minister bringing information forward to the committees in terms of the best methods of recovering money and also money that's been given out to the organizations. In their hearts and their minds...For some odd reason, something went wrong. There are some safety mechanisms and more preventative measures in terms of catching these past learned lessons and having more successful recovery of the various contributions that go out to individuals. We need some safety checks or coaching or a checklist that the government would be more successful in recovering these dollars and accountability is brought back into the system. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there is work underway and if there is further clarification needed for members or as we proceed forward and get the next piece of the work done, we will gladly share it with members as how things are flowing. We have shared the third-party accountability framework that we have begun to implement, as well as the processes that are in place that we have built in. As the Minister of Education stated earlier, the flow of funding on a quarterly basis instead of giving it all upfront is one of those areas. It is difficult. On a yearly basis, we can contribute millions of dollars to organizations out there, some as small as $5,000 to $10,000, and in other areas, $1 million plus. So that really does affect how we go from year to year. But as we stated, we are working on improving our accountability, not only for ourselves but for the people of the Territories to show we are accounting for the money that's going out there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Any other comments on schedule 2? Agreed?

To clause by clause, schedule 2?

Back to the main clauses. Bill 9, Write-off of Assets and Debts Act, 2004-2005, clause 1.

Clause 2.