Floyd Roland

No, we do not owe the Nunavut government any money. There are arrangements within the Financial Administration Act, depending on which department. If it’s actually with Finance, we have some prescribed amounts we could use. With FMBS I’d have to go to Ms. LeClair for it.

Of the $12 million, approximately $6 million is billing to Nunavut. We have been working with Nunavut to try to come up with a satisfactory arrangement. For that detail I’ll get Ms. LeClair to give some more information.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 16, Write-off of Debts Act, 2008–2009, be read for the first time.

Mr. Chairman, the fact is that we have decided, at least at this stage, not to tack on an interest charge to the department or to the billing we’ve had for Nunavut. We have not put the energy into coming up with what it would have been that we might have collected, seeing that we have decided not to tack on an interest charge.

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.