Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is for Minister of Finance, and I think Minister of housing can answer this as well, but due to FMB, I'll stick with Minister of Finance. The Financial Administration Act allows the financial management board to forgive debt owed to the government or a public agency where it would be just, unreasonable to do so. Can the Minister agree that it is not just or reasonable to require repayment of debt to the GNWT for elders that cannot afford their housing. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can agree because that is one of the considerations that is within the Financial Administration Manual that if an individual is indigent or in other words is unable to repay, then that is one of the considerations and could be one of the reasons for forgiveness or remission of a debt. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Can the Minister commit to taking special consideration for elders specifically when reviewing GNWT policies that guide forgiveness of debt. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did note before, again, that there are some considerations already listed, including the inability to pay. With respect to elders broadly as an individual category, that is not currently a consideration and would probably be difficult because of the multitude of circumstances that elders may find themselves in and defining who may railroad may not be an elder. I can say, Mr. Speaker, being a whole of government, I know there is the policy review going on over in housing that you've already heard about, and to the extent that there may be an opportunity to build in what appropriate considerations are when an agency as housing brings forward debt for management to the financial management board, then that may be an opportunity to see if we can better define what it is that the Member's hoping to see. That would be an opportunity for that. Thank you.
Yes, thank you. Can the Minister commit to reviewing the information bulletin 640.01, forgiveness and remission under the Financial Administration Manual to deal with this circumstance. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is the document that guides what happens when first an agency or other department identifies a debt for repayment and then brings it forward for consideration. As I noted, the consideration does already include circumstances where an individual's indigent, so if there's a disconnect happening, if there's someone who's in those circumstances and is not finding their debt forgiven, I am going to commit that myself and my colleague Minister of housing will work together to make sure that if there's a something if there's disconnecting, we could speak to the Member about what's if there's something that's not achieving the goal here that we can in the course of work that's already happening in housing make sure that we fill that gap. There's been over $20 million already forgiven with respect to housing debts as well as other debts of this nature. And, again, with the indigent portion already there, I am concerned we're missing something, so I will speak to the Member further and my colleague and fill that gap. If you
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have any more further questions, but I will talk and meet with the Minister of Finance and housing later on. Thank you.
Member from Yellowknife North.
