Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a significant dollar figure and outstanding invoices to the contractor who was to deliver the system in a working state to us and we are in the process of ensuring that we are satisfied that we have a working system before we would even consider paying those invoices. We are also tracking our extra costs. So we think that we have some protection and we will be working to ensure that we do our best to make sure that we are delivered a system for the price we were told we would get it for and protect the taxpayers. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not confident that we have that system in place today, but I am confident that, with the assistance of the software manufacturer, who now has a representative here in Yellowknife working with us, that we will get to that very quickly.

As I said, we managed to get the last pay out without any significant issue and I am confident that that demonstrates that we are on the road to getting there. Whether or not we will ever be able to implement the Absence Management module, I don't know. We were hoping to, because it would improve the functionality of the system; but even if we can't, the system would have the same level of functionality that it had prior to July 3rd when we tried to bring that module on line.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absence Management was a brand new module that we have not used in the past. So when we turn that off, then leave is being handled in the same way that it has been up until the new software was installed. So it is the same process as was used prior to July 3. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure where the Member is getting his advice that the program is at fault. What I said was the manner in which the program was modified in the first place is what has caused this problem. Eight of 10 Canadian provinces use this. Another province is moving to PeopleSoft. One of the other territories uses this program, as well. So it is the program that is most widely used in Canada in terms of dealing with pay and benefits. The program itself is not the issue. The manner in which the program was changed previously and now trying to move to a non-modified program, one that is fully functional, has caused some problems.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that, with the assistance of Oracle, we are going to get this situation resolved. I would like to point out that the last pay, for instance, did run pretty well directly. There were very few instances of problems with the last pay. The real problems we had were in the two July pays and we think that we resolved the problem. We haven't got the full functionality of the program that we were trying for because of the modifications that were done previously. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, we ran a system in parallel before moving it to go live and it seemed to work when it was running in a test system. For some reason, when it moved into the production system, it didn't work. I can't answer why that happened. In fact, it seems we are having some trouble getting to that answer. Mr. Speaker, the issue that the Member refers to this week was not a software issue. That was a human issue. That sort of thing can't be solved by new software. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since we discovered the issue, we went past the contractor that we had hired to implement the software. So we did buy the software from Oracle PeopleSoft. We actually hired another company to do the installation because Oracle PeopleSoft doesn't usually do installations with the program. Their responsibility was to ensure that the proper tables and interfaces were in so that the program would work in our system and that we could migrate the information from the old version of the software to the new version. Since we ran into the problems, we are unable to

get expedient resolution from the company that we had contracted with to deliver the software, we contacted Oracle. Oracle very quickly sent somebody to Yellowknife who has stayed here to ensure that we are able to get the program working in a manner which it should be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, no. The version of the program that we are moving to will not be a customized version. That is what has led to the problems. The problems that we have had have been trying to move away from a program that was modified in ways that were...It is difficult to find words to explain why it was done that way because I am not sure. I really can't explain why the modifications were made to the program in the first place, but I can tell you that moving to a plain Jane version...

---Laughter

No pun intended at all. Moving to a vanilla version, Mr. Speaker, has met significant difficulties. We don't believe the problems are with the software, Mr. Speaker. The contractor who delivered the program to the government was specifically quizzed on whether or not they had the skills to deliver a working system. They told us they could move us from the compromised system we were using to a fully functional system. But it is evident that they have not been able to do that at this point.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That work is being done with the direction of the president of the Housing Corporation and the deputy minister of the department, and then the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation and myself meet with them in order to ensure that we are dealing with issues. So either Minister or both Ministers would be pleased to meet with committee to report on what we are hearing and how those issues are being resolved.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories, the Cabinet, has adopted a policy on income security. That policy speaks to how our approach to income security should take place. It is going to take some time to coordinate everything, but the first steps are taking place starting on September 1

when we roll out the new Income Support Program. We will be developing offices across the Northwest Territories to ensure that our subsidy programs are delivered in a more coordinated fashion.

This government right now delivers $120 million a year of direct subsidies to people. We want to make sure that we are providing those subsidies in the best and most coordinated fashion. We think that we can do that better by bringing things under one roof. But it is going to take us a while. We are trying not to move so quickly to disrupt the system so that it causes a lot of turmoil to people. We think that the approach we have taken will, in fact, resolve issues and by coordinating between the different departments, we will be able to offer one-stop shopping. It is going to take us a while to get there. Thank you.