Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Now I would like to ask Mr. Roland if he would like to bring witnesses into the Chamber. Mr. Roland.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Does committee agree?

Agreed. Thank you. Then I would ask the Sergeant-at-Arms if he would please bring the witnesses to the table.

Mr. Roland, would you please introduce your witnesses, for the record?

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right is the secretary to the Financial Management Board, Mr. Mark Cleveland; to my left is Mr. Robert Taggart, director of policy and planning. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. I would like to see if there are any general comments from the Members on FMBS. General comments. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to accent the report of the standing committee, Madam Chair, especially as Mr. Lafferty reported our extensive support for the non-government organizations that we contract with to deliver a wide range of services and supports and programs across the NWT.

Madam Chair, this has been a message that I have put out quite strongly and consistently for the past several years. Other Members have joined in on it as well. It is something that I just haven't seen a lot of evidence of. I know that there are some pockets where we are engaging in longer-term contracts and commitments with some NGOs, Madam Chair. This is what I have heard, but I am just not getting a lot of strong indication from the government that it really is taking to heart the seriousness of the situation that a number of NGOs...Well, every one of them that contracts with us, Madam Chair, naturally has to go through a process of arranging contracts or contribution agreements of accounting for them. This almost always includes full-blown annual audits of worrying about the commitments that are made for leases, for staff, for other projects as they continue and yet it still seems, Madam Chair, that far too many cases even where an NGO has a strong track record, very trustworthy performance, we still require them to go through this considerable administrative exercise on an annual basis.

We don't have to force these organizations or our own staff, Madam Chair, to go through this on an annual basis where there is a strong track record, a continuous level of service required, good people and systems and supports in place. We really do believe that we could sign longer-term agreements with less demanding and less rigorous levels of accountability and reporting. Of course, we still have to satisfy our need to make sure that what we want done is getting done for the money we pay.

What it comes down to for the people that I have talked to, Madam Chair, is that they are largely run by volunteers. The governance of these boards and organizations, the YWCA is one that really comes to mind, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Yellowknife Association of Community Living, the Yellowknife Association of Concerned Citizens for Seniors, and on and on. These organizations are governed by volunteers. Where we can take some of the stress and angst, if you will, and time and energy away from getting the job done, then I think we should make every effort to do so. I think this is where creating multi-year agreements in financing situations can help not only those organizations, but can lighten up considerably the administrative burden that we have on our own bureaucracy to keep track of all these things. I will stop there, Madam Chair, as a general comment. My concern is that we do not seem to be moving forward on this change in the way we do business I think as aggressively as we could be.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Next for general comments I have Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On page 2 of the Minister's opening comments, he highlighted the review of the FAA and reform and modernization of the Financial Administration Manual or FAM document. I am just wondering how that prose has been going. The reason I ask this is because I have, on a number of occasions, been very consistent on the fact that I would like to see it modernized in such a way that we deal with our NGOs a little more seamlessly. The reporting process and the burden that it puts on our NGOs because the way we have it structured now, it is extremely firm on how they have to account for the money they receive. By no way am I suggesting that they should not. So it shouldn't be

implied in any way, but I am talking about flexibility when they have to hand in their audited reports, how often they have to do them.

We have many NGOs out there that have been receiving excellent financial contributions from our government. I know they are very thankful for them. I believe that the NGOs are providing, many of them, excellent quality work out there that the government just can't do. What I would like to see and hear from the Minister today is has there been some work towards building some flexibility into our accounting process to allow these organizations to report in an easier method? The fact is, Madam Chair, these organizations are there to serve the people in capacities. The government doesn't. If they can still meet the intent of the requirements of reporting, I think we should attempt to be as flexible as possible in a working relationship so we both meet the achievables that we want. We want good value for money. We want to ensure it is being spent properly and I know the government wants to see that. They want to see that, too. Can the Minister reply on how these things have evolved in that area of my concern? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. We aren't having questions and answers with the Minister right now. This is just for general comments. If you could just save your questions to the appropriate page in the detail, that would be great. Do you have any further general comments?

No. Then I will look for the appropriate page. Sorry; I couldn't hear you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Are there any more general comments?

Detail. Okay. Then I would like to please direct Members' attention to page 2-114, information item, Financial Management Board Secretariat, revenue summary, $19.833 million.

Page 2-117, activity summary, directorate, budget summary, expenditure category, $54.422 million. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have been informed that the directorate would probably be the best place to pose that question I highlighted in the opening comment section. Without having to repeat the question, I think the Minister heard it the first go-round. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the FAA rework that has been ongoing is something that we are at the stage now, we went through three phases and we are into the third phase and that is getting the legislative proposal ready. We have done the initial work, presented that to Members and received a feedback. We are now in the final stage of getting the legislative proposal ready. It will be a few months before we get that concluded, though. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the news on that, that a legislative proposal is coming forward to make that adjustment. That is well and good and I will accept that as a good step forward on this matter. I have just one small comment and, depending on the answer of course, there might not be anything further at this time. Has the Minister taken the step of contacting a few of our good, hard-working NGOs to see if we are able to achieve some of the needs that would work well for them in the adjustments and updating the FAA and our FAM manual to ensure that, again, we are meeting our requirements and we are helping them? As we all know, they are tight for money. We get them to provide services and we need to work together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the issue of consultation, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have been working with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs on a fairly major piece of the work that is ongoing and how volunteers are funded through that office, working with other partners and this work. For more details, Mr. Cleveland will give some of the breakdown.