Thank you, Mr. Bell. Mr. Braden.

Mr. Chairman, there were a number of areas in the strategy that the principle stakeholders, who are the artists and performers, the artisans, the creators in this sector, did not agree with a number of areas of the strategy and who have asked for a chance to come in and revisit some things with government and see if there can't be some retuning. As long ago as last September, there was a commitment or a suggestion about the people who served on the original advisory panel for the strategy to get back together. This has not happened yet. Can the Minister advise on whether or not he and his colleague at ECE have talked about bringing this to the fore again and seeing what we can do to ensure that the interests of the artistic and creative communities is solved in this strategy, Mr. Chairman?

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Minister Bell.

Mr. Chairman, I have had the discussion with the ECE Minister, and I think Mr. Braden remembers that he did, in the House, make the commitment to bring that group back together. Let me say that the feedback we've been receiving from the arts community related to arts and fine crafts is that the commitments, we're fulfilling the initiatives that we've undertaken, are well supported. There seems to be some concern and some need for more dialogue around performing arts, which really is part of the ECE piece on this. Having said that, we're still, obviously, prepared to be involved in those discussions going forward with ECE. It's important for the two of us to work closely together, and we are fully committed to coming back and having further dialogue with the arts community. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Next on the list I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I want to talk somewhat to the business incentive policy and the areas of having somebody in the Department of ITI responsible or dedicated to being a sole contact person for contracts of the government, and someone who would monitor and ensure that certain procedures and policies are adhered to and things are put to rest by this one dedicated person in the department so communities are not phoning all over and so they know one person who is responsible for this program. Thanks.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Bell.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the Member for the question. Let me say that as we've worked through the agreement with the GTC, we are learning, I think, how to effectively implement these agreements and we will use that knowledge to help us build the one in the Sahtu. We are currently working with SSI. We have provided them with some help in order to bring together some of the pieces that we need as we move forward on this strategy. I want to assure the Member that the regional superintendent has been identified as the lead point person on the negotiations here and is working very closely with the contractor and is working very closely with SSI, I understand, on moving this forward. He will be the one point of contact for the region.

Now just to make sure there's no confusion, we are responsible for the contract registry, we are the ones putting in place and negotiating, on behalf of the government, this MOU, but it still is up to individual departments to negotiate their own contracts and to handle their own procurement. Nothing we've done in the Gwich'in agreement, in the Sahtu agreement that we're proposing will change that. So where Public Works is the lead department, where Transportation is the lead department, they will still handle all of their procurement. We simply will develop the agreement and report back on it and conduct the yearly meetings to understand how it's working. So our one point of contact will be the regional superintendent, but communities will still have to deal with the various different departments on procurement. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Minister talked about the MOU and I certainly support the initiatives that the department and the government is taking towards concluding these arrangements. When can my region or when can the people in the Sahtu, under the land claim agreement, see that this chapter, or this clause, see some conclusion similar to what the Gwich'in Tribal Council has right now? I'm looking for some time frame on this one, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're trying and we're hopeful that this move can move ahead quickly. Discussions are ongoing. The contractor has been jointly funded by SSI and our government. As far as when these discussions will be concluded, I can't say definitively. A lot of it depends on the level of consultation going on with the communities and the feedback that they are getting, but let me reiterate our government's commitment to concluding this process and arriving at an MOU in the Sahtu area. We are fully committed to that and we will move this ahead as quickly as we possibly can without short changing some of the necessary consultation that we think has to take place in order for this to be comprehensive and meaningful when we're done. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Early on in my discussions, I talked about a person who has the responsibility of minding the store in terms of the procurement contracts with the GNWT. Can the Minister tell me what kind of oversight functions, if any, within his department are there when it comes to ensuring that the GNWT procurement policies are monitored and applied consistently on economic development contracts? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Bell.

Mr. Chairman, of course departments are responsible for their own procurement and provide oversight in that capacity, but oversight to the government is done through Financial Management Board Secretariat who take a look at how departments are carrying out their procurement to make sure it's done within the regulations and within government policy and if not, that is the one body that follows that up. Our role in terms of procurement is really about ensuring that there's transparency, and that the contract registry is functioning well and adequate people have access to that information. It allows us to do things like measure some of our programs, such as the BIP. In order for us to understand how effective the BIP was or wasn't, we were able to use the contract registry and that's what we would use and that's our role really in the contract registry, but oversight and procurement, government as a whole is FMBS and also done department by department. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be asking the Minister responsible for FMBS. So I'm going to leave it at that. I guess what I want to ask the Minister in my last question would be to him is give me some fairly good answers in terms of the contracts under his department and the responsibility for economic development in terms of the MOU that's being negotiated right now with the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated in terms of ensuring that the memorandum of understanding on government contracting is strictly adhered to and respected. I guess I'm looking on the BIP. Is someone minding the store and maybe going back to FMBS in terms of this BIP program here? Who is observing it, and monitoring, and is one point of contact? He has given some information on the regional superintendent, FMBS. I want to probably get this clear that the BIP, I got some information on the MOU, on the overall government procurements, maybe the FMBS, but on the BIP information, who is minding the store on the BIP and ensuring that BIP is followed and the companies are following the spirit and intent of what BIP is supposed to do? So that's what I'm asking. Is it possible to have someone in that department have additional responsibility to be the sole source of contact for all BIP contracts? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister Bell.

Mr. Chairman, I thank the Member for that clarification and appreciate that we're not strictly talking about the one point of contact for procurement, but we're talking about the BIP and ensuring that it's applied properly in the region, if I understand the Member. So if there are concerns with how BIP is being applied, the regional superintendent would be the one point of contact in the region if there are concerns. If they can't be dealt with there, there is provision under BIP for something called the Senior Management Preference Committee. That's a group of deputies from the main contracting departments who sit down if there are concerns and ensure that BIP is being properly applied, but I think for the Member's purposes, it's not necessary to worry about how that committee functions. The regional superintendent is the one point of contact. If he needs to bring something further, he would bring it to that committee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Minister Bell. Anything further, Mr. Yakeleya?

Thank you. Can the Minister then, in terms of the one point of contact, are there things already in place within the BIP that monitor or observes in ensuring that this policy and these regulations are followed? There's many ways that they can get around it. So that's what I wanted to ask in terms of the regional superintendent will only have a certain amount of authority or discretion. Is someone in there to have some dedication to this policy here, I guess, or to this program here? I hope I'm making myself clear. I apologize if you seem a bit confused on this area here. Thank you.

Mahsi, Minister Yakeleya. Minister Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess it's hard to talk more generally and theoretically about how something works, but if I could give the Member an example, if there is a specific concern about a contract in the region and there is the perception or concern that maybe BIP was misapplied or not handled properly, the policy application wasn't handled properly, then that concern can be raised to this Senior Management Preference Committee who would be the final say in terms of whether or not that BIP had been applied properly. So we are committed to the proper application of this policy. It is a standing policy of the government, we want to make sure it's working well and if there are concerns raised, they should be brought to the attention of this committee because we want to make sure it is applied properly. Thank you.