Something fairly quick. I’m just learning the process of appropriation. The Minister’s opening remarks for the bill indicate all of the areas where the interim appropriation is exceeding one-quarter or one-third of the budget, 32 per cent of the budget. The various reasons for why these areas exceed 33 per cent of the budget all seem to be that contracts had to be put in place.
I was just wondering if the Minister could explain to me why there has to be an appropriation prior to contracts being in place, and if there wasn’t another accounting method that can be used to still put the contracts in place with the understanding that the appropriation would be coming with a full budget.