Floyd Roland

Mr. Chairman, the Department of Health and Social Services in the previous Assembly did, in fact, send up an individual and help the authority go through its finances and begin to look at its books to see where it was having problems. So some of that work has been started. FMBS at Stanton, as I’ve stated, has become directly involved with the collections side. Invoices have been sent out and are due. We’re working with the appropriate bodies to get payment on those.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wish I had a tape recorder. Maybe I could replay the message we’ve answered on this piece.

The fact is that it goes back a number of years. In this particular case, as far back as 1999–2000 we started looking at some of the receivables as the overall accumulated debt started to grow.

There is ongoing work for the Department of Health and Social Services. FMBS is now involved in that collection piece. As Ms. LeClair pointed out earlier, we are directly involved in sitting down with Nunavut and trying to clarify some of these areas.

I’d be prepared at some point to sit...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The deficit of Beaufort-Delta Health and Social Services started as far back as 1998–99 and grew. At that point it was in the range of half a million dollars. It fluctuated. They came out of the situation for a couple of years, but back in 2003–04 it started again, and they continued to grow a deficit. At the same time we, as a government, over a number of years through supplementary appropriation, funded half of their deficit situation.

Some of this, for example, is when there are utilities costs that go up on an annual basis that were not budgeted for at the beginning...

Mr. Speaker, at one time, in fact, the dividends used to pay for the Territorial Power Support Program when it was less than 4 and a half million dollars. It used to be that the amount covered it off 100 per cent. It now covers less than 50 per cent. We reduced the dividend to 3 and a half million dollars, and we have to fill up the rest. For example, we’re looking at just under $10 million to cover off that program during this fiscal year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The request is asking for the accumulated debt, and that is a debt that grows year to year. It just keeps adding up. It does not take in this year that we’re operating in.

Mr. Chairman, the other area of this is the review. Members are aware of that in Refocusing Government, looking at boards and agencies and their role in delivering the services across the Northwest Territories. This is one of those areas where we have to take that review and see how we do, in fact, deliver services to the people of the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Territorial Power Support Program has grown substantially over the last number of years. Questions about energy and its supply and how we provide this subsidy program need to be reviewed. For the most part, on average, when we do a comparison, most households can live within the 700 kilowatt hours, and that is something we also take into consideration when we set the program parameters.

Again, it will be one of the areas as we proceed forward on the energy file: reviewing this program and seeing how it best works in the Northwest Territories. At the existing pace, we...

Mr. Chairman, the first part — not all the work is going to be done within a matter of three and a half months. Most of that work has been undertaken already within the different departments, which are working with Health and Social Services to come up with the figures, the program delivery levels and what’s been mandated for delivery.

There are a number of areas and departments working at coming up with all the information and the potential results of that in the sense of what levels of services we are going to continue to fund and what level of services we are going to say that, as the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record the Member has, on a number of occasions now, talked about the fact that the payroll situation has only been six and a half months. It’s been a couple of years since the department became involved. It was a lesser rate, and, yes, it has grown significantly over the last piece. That is a different piece of the puzzle. This is dealing with the accumulated deficit building over a number of years. We are dealing with it now and going forward with a newer plan.

For the actual details of how it breaks down, or the work that’s been done to date, I’d have to go...