Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If I wasn't confused before. I am going to read the provision in the bill and I would like the Minister then to tell me how he is going to exercise this authority.

"The Minister may approve an operating budget of the corporation for the financial year that designates a portion of the amount of money received by the corporation in interest during the previous financial as money that is available to the corporation for the purpose of carrying on its business."

What criteria is the Minister going to use in deciding whether to approve that budget that is going to come forward from BDIC that might use some of the interest that it has accrued? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To that specific clause, we want BDIC to lay out their capital plan on how they are going to use their interest and revenue and what portion of that is going to be used for their operational plan. These are early days, as I have said. This is some of the stuff we are proposing that we want to do going forward. With this legislation, we want to be more transparent on how they use their money. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am all for transparency, as well. Can the Minister then commit to share his decision on this with committee so that we know how he has exercised his discretion, whether he has approved the request by BDIC and, if he hasn't, the reasons why he has turned it down? Can he share that information with committee? I know this is a new thing. In the interest of transparency, can he share that with committee moving forward? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Every corporate plan will be tabled in the House, and it will show the breakdown on how they are using this money, so it's going to be fully transparent and will be shared. If it's tabled in the House, everybody will be able to have a look at it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I don't want to flog a dead horse here, but what gets tabled in the House, though, that is only after the Minister has approved it, presumably. So I want to know whether the Minister has actually approved the request by BDIC, the full request, or not, so can the Minister share that kind of information with standing committee? If it has to be done on a confidential basis, that is fine. I just want to know how this is going to operate the first couple of years. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I suspect we can share that during the business planning sessions as we go forward and be able to do it through that process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

Okay, thanks. I appreciate that, and I am sure the Minister will remind me if I forget about it and do not raise it during business planning review. I just have one other comment that I want to make. I agree with my colleague who chairs the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, the MLA for Yellowknife North, because I sit on the committee, as well. The reason why this is coming forward is because of Cabinet's fiscal strategy of cutting programs and services to fund infrastructure. So they have cut the funding that comes to BDIC by $1.9 million over two years to meet fiscal reduction targets, so that is why this is coming forward at this point, because they have been cutting BDIC and this is a way to try to help them out of that hole. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Normally, I would have probably let that one slide, but I am not going to. This is not a fiscal reduction to meet infrastructure needs. This was a way that we moved to prudently manage the money of the Northwest Territories so we could help facilitate and move forward on all policies and needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories, not just the Department of Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I was going to let it go, too, but now I am not. This corporation was set up in 2005. If this had been identified as a problem a while ago, it should have been fixed a long time ago. The only reason this is before us today is because of Cabinet's fiscal strategy of cutting programs and services to fund infrastructure, and that is a strategy that I have opposed from the beginning, and that is why this is before us here though, is to try to help BDIC out of this hole that has been created by Cabinet's fiscal strategy. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Minister Schumann.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is not just about a fiscal reduction. We have got to do a review every five years, and we are going to do that. I am the Minister of ITI; they are under my realm, and I want to have a serious look at how this place is operating and what overlaps with other lending institutes we have in the Northwest Territories, and are we best facilitating and organization that meets the needs of the residents of the Northwest Territories and using our cash wisely. That is what you call prudent management, and we will continue to do that going forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Schumann. Mr. O'Reilly.

I will cut it off there.

[Microphone turned off] Seeing none. Can we proceed to a clause-by-clause review of the bill?