Debates of August 17, 2007 (day 12)

Thank you, Minister Roland. Welcome, Mr. Cleveland and Ms. Lavoie, to the proceedings this afternoon. We will now open up Bill 9 to general comments from committee. Any general comments?

Detail.

Thank you, committee. Before we consider the clause by clause, there are two clauses, we will defer that and to go the schedule. It’s on page 3. We will deal with the schedule first. That’s the debts written off, total $308,305.95.

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Now we will go with the clause by clause. Clause 1.

Agreed.

Clause 2.

Agreed.

Bill as a whole?

Agreed.

Does committee agree that Bill 9 is ready for third reading?

Agreed.

Thank you. Bill 9 is ready for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Minister and officials. Mahsi.

Thank you, committee. We will now deal with Bill 10, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2007-2008. I would like to ask the Minister responsible, Minister Roland, to please introduce the bill.

Mr. Chairman, I am here to introduce Bill 10, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2007-2008. This bill requests authority for the forgiveness of certain debts listed in the schedule of the act.

Pursuant to section 25 of the Financial Administration Act, the forgiveness of a debt or obligation to the government exceeding $1,000 must receive Legislative Assembly approval.

When a debt is forgiven, no further collection action shall be pursued.

The forgiveness of certain debts being proposed in this act will not require a new appropriation. Allowances for doubtful accounts were charged to an appropriation at the time it was determined that collection of the debts was considered unlikely.

The accounts being recommended for forgiveness are the result of bankruptcy, compromise settlements or are in the public interest. In cases where a compromised settlement is reached, the following factors have been considered:

the possibility of future recoveries;

the cost to continue legal actions; and

the value of security associated with the debt.

That concludes my opening remarks. I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have.

Thank you, Minister Roland. I would now like to ask the chairman of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight to provide a response to the review. Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight reviewed Bill 10 at a meeting on June 8, 2007. Following the clause-by-clause review, a motion was carried to report Bill 10 to the Assembly as ready for Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the committee’s comments on Bill 10. Individual Members may have comments or questions as we proceed. Mahsi, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Again, before we consider the clause by clause, we will defer the consideration of those clauses until we deal with the schedule first. Before we go there, the chair will recognize Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this time, I would like to declare a conflict of interest. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Pokiak. Duly noted. Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Chairman, I also would like to declare a conflict of interest.

Mahsi, Mr. Yakeleya. Thank you, committee. We are dealing with Bill 10. I would like to ask the Minister if he would like to bring in some witnesses.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Does committee agree?

Agreed.

Thank you, committee. Mr. Minister, for the record, would you please introduce your witnesses?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, to my right is the secretary to the FMB, Mr. Mark Cleveland; and to my left is Louise Lavoie, assistant comptroller general.

Thank you, Minister Roland. Welcome back. Committee, we are dealing with Bill 10, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2007-2008. As I mentioned earlier, we are going to defer consideration of the clauses and deal with the schedule first. Before we go there, we will go to general comments. Does anybody have any general comments on the bill? No general comments. We will go clause by clause, but, as I mentioned, we will deal with the schedule first and the schedule begins on page 3. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be short. I would like to be consistent though. In cases where we have corporations, I would like to see in the future that we list the board of directors along with the name of the corporation. I have mentioned that a few times to the Minister over the years. I won’t say it fell on deaf ears; I am sure it didn’t. The board of directors, when we name a list of a certain company itself, we don’t know who ran it and sometimes we see names cross-pollinating. We lend them money under one group and a year or two later, they come back and get money from somewhere else. No question, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. We will now deal with the schedule beginning on page 3, schedule of debts forgiven. Agreed?

Agreed.

Page 4.

Agreed.

Page 5.

Agreed.

Page 6.

Agreed.

Page 7.

Agreed.

Page 8.

Agreed.

Page 9.

Agreed.

Page 10.

Agreed.

Page 11.

Agreed.

Page 12

Agreed.

Page 13.

Agreed.