Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, maybe the Minister could qualify what he would call the head of the department. Would they need deputy minister level approval? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, normally, it would go up through the deputy minister level. There are different ports where, if they're in a region, it may go to the superintendent of that region. I'll have to get the specifics on that, but I know, for sure, authority is given, ultimately, from the deputy minister.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister, what kind of criteria would be applied to that decision? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a number of criteria come into play. One, if it is, in fact, in direct association with the work they're doing on behalf of government, that would be one of the areas of consideration. As well, if the employee is working in the community where there would be deemed to be competition or competition by government employees, that may be one of the areas, as well, that's taken into consideration, if a decision would be made. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this kind of communication, between a deputy minister or a supervisor, is something, I'm sure, would be protected by privacy. If people in the community have a concern as to whether or not official and formal approval was sought and received, what would be their recourse, in terms of inquiring about that? Is that something that the Minister would handle? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there's a situation, or when inquiries are made, if people cannot find they are getting the answers, or feel that they are not getting a response from within the regions, then they would come to headquarters and, ultimately, I would respond to inquiries that are made by either Members, or individuals, who would contact my office on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are, again, for the Minister of Public Works and Services. I go back to the questions I had earlier, where I didn't really get a clear answer. I want to know, quite simply, who made the decision to sole source the office space requirements in Fort Simpson, recently? Thank you, and if that's not plain enough, I don't know what is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Public Works and Services, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, within Public Works and Services, the way it has been delegated down to contract authorities, as we would call them, it could be the superintendent of the region. That power to issue those types of contracts goes right down to the contract authorities. Again, it is within a certain dollar amount stipulation. I don't have that information available with me. Regarding the situation in Fort Simpson, I'll have to get the response, or who the individual was, and look at that information. But I know that from within Public Works and Services, the delegation has been down to the contract authority level. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I heard the Minister correctly, then the government is contravening their own policy when acquiring office space, because it states, quite clearly, that it has to be acquired through invitation to tender of public proposals, and if it is not, then it requires Executive Council authorization. In this case, they didn't have it. So I would like the Minister to stand up and explain that to me. How can this happen, and how can an authority like that be delegated, when it states, quite clearly, that it shouldn't be? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good to see Yellowknife Members taking on issues from outside of the capital. It's a good thing in this forum we have. The fact is, in this situation, a department requested a certain amount of space, and our space is rated, and criteria are for certain levels if it's an office space. I'm not sure if it's a category 1, 2, 3 or A type levels, but with the research we had with our own forces, we were aware of what was available in the community. We went with that information, and what was available in the community and the timelines we had to look at; there was only one proponent that we could work with, and we went with that proponent. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that excludes everyone that might want to bid on this, or might want to build a building in a community. Mr. Speaker, I'm speaking about this issue because it draws, or casts, a shadow over sole sourced contracts, and how negotiations that this government enters into are conducted. It happens in Fort Simpson, it can happen in Yellowknife, Mr Speaker, and I'd like to again ask the Minister, whose decision was it to go this way, to lease the space and sole source the space in Fort Simpson? Because, quite clearly, their own policy was not followed, and the Minister has just stood up in the House and said that it wasn't. So why have a policy, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let's set the record straight. I did not say we contravened the policy, and I said I would commit to getting the information as to what level this decision was made at. Thank you.

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