Mr. Speaker, I will assure the Member that, if I have an opportunity to meet with the Minister of Labour, I will raise this issue with him. I will raise it with our MP, and certainly raise it with the Minister of DIAND, should I have the chance to meet him, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, this afternoon, are for Mr. Roland, Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, and it concerns some of the procedure which, arguably, was or was not followed in the handling of the decision to relocate the Territorial Treatment Centre.

Mr. Speaker, there is a FAM directive, number 302, regarding budget adjustments and transfers. It addresses how a Minister is to advise the appropriate MLA and standing committee of when a capital project is significantly changed, either 20 percent of the project budget or the timing. Mr. Speaker, this was not done in the case of the transfer of the Territorial Treatment Centre until after Cabinet had made its decision. Does the Minister acknowledge that the FMBS neglected to make sure the Minister had followed this directive in the handling of this decision? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. The honourable Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Roland.

No.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Then I think the onus is on the Minister to prove that the FMBS and/or the department did follow the directive number 302. Show me the proof, as the effected MLA. Show the Standing Committee on Social Programs, as the effected committee, that the advice was given.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this issue was raised during the supplementary appropriation during the previous session we had. This issue was raised by a number of Members, about the process that was used, FAM directive 302; and, as I had stated our position then, where we were with it and followed up with Members to show them that, in fact, to even bring more clarity to the situation so we wouldn't get into this type of situation again. We have done our thing. I can, once again, probably dust off the information that we provided as to the process that will be used and the process, in this situation, that was used, and provide that for the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Well, it is a bit late, isn't it, Mr. Speaker? If the Minister is going to make a commitment to attempt to show me that the directive was followed, then I guess I have no choice right now but to wait to see what proof he is going to offer. In the meantime, Mr. Speaker, the Minister said that he wanted to take some steps to avoid this happening again. What step is the Minister preparing to engage in and, perhaps, at least consult with committees on that step? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I have, through correspondence, informed committee members of what we intend to do to try and clarify the language in the FAM directive that the Member has been speaking of. I will have to get that confirmation. I believe that, if we haven't done so, we are preparing to provide that correspondence to Members about how we can clarify some of the language around there. Again, Mr. Speaker, I can provide, as I did during the supplementary process a number of times, the process that was used and how people were informed. That is the best I can do. Obviously, I won't convince the Member. He feels he has his point. We will just have to agree to disagree. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

It is the position that is easy for Cabinet to take. They have a lot more swing and a lot more clout than I do. I am not going to be prepared simply to agree to disagree until I see some evidence of what is coming along, Mr. Speaker. One critical question, if we are going to pursue improving this guideline, as it is not mentioned in the current one, is the Minister going to allow that Members and committees will be advised of these kinds of changes before Cabinet makes up its mind? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process that we use, and will continue to use, is, if a Minister is coming forward with a substantive change, or a change that requires the agreement of Cabinet or FMB, they would first have to come, in my situation, to FMB, to request that this is an avenue that they can go down, and then we would inform that particular Minister that before there is an agreement for a change, we need to be informed. If we feel that they are on the right track, we will then send them to the right committee and have that discussion to see if, in fact, they are in agreement with what is being proposed. At that point, the Minister would come back and say yes or no to it. We would have further impact, and then we would implement that decision. That is the process that we use and will continue to use. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsey.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, let me deal with each of those. Mr. Speaker, the $40 million was an amount that was given to each of the territories to enable them to deal with emergency, high-priority issues facing their territories. It had nothing to do with devolution. It was money that was given to each of us as good will on the signing of the framework agreement on the Northern Strategy.

Mr. Speaker, on the $500 million, we have been very clear that that money does not come to the Government of the Northwest Territories. That is money for the communities that are impacted by the pipeline, and only those communities. Again, it has nothing to do with resource revenue sharing or our devolution talks. That is money meant to help alleviate the impact of the pipeline and related development. Those are not monies to buy us off or keep us quiet or whatever it may be, or any kind of smokescreen. Those are legitimate funds in their own sense. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I have a different opinion on the $500 million than the Premier does. I would like to know who is going to look after the 11 other communities that aren't part of this $500 million socioeconomic agreement. Does this government represent those other communities and have an obligation to those other communities outside of the Mackenzie Valley that are going to be impacted by this development, to do something? To do something means to get us a deal on resource revenue sharing and devolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.