Prior to taking a break, there was a motion on the floor. I will read the motion for the record. I move that the Law Clerk be directed to write a letter to the Chief Commissioner of the Conflict of Interest Commission asking the Chief Commissioner to investigate whether a Member of this House contravened the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council Act by virtue of his association with the Languages Commissioner. Mr. Gargan.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. After reading section 81, it does say that any person who believes that a Member has contravened any provision of this part, may file a written complaint to the Clerk. The motion is asking the Clerk to write to the Chief Commissioner. It cannot be the Clerk who does that, it has to be an individual from this House. Based on that, Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my motion.

For the record, I will write a letter to the Clerk on whether there does exist a conflict under section 65.1 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act. I will do that, and the Commissioner could dismiss it or deal with it. I cannot go on operating in this House with that hanging over my head. I believe other Members also have that concern. Perhaps having a letter written to the Chief Commissioner of the Conflict of Interest Commission will clarify that once and for all. That is my intent. With that, I am finished my comments.

Thank you. For the record, Mr. Gargan has withdrawn his motion. To the number of issues we have been discussing before the matter, I would like to ask the legal counsel to make some clarifications.

---Withdrawn

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did want to clarify that I had earlier referred to the Ethics Commissioner. There is actually a position known as Chief Commissioner of the Conflict of Interest Commission. By referring to Ethics Commissioner, I was incorrect. I apologize to the Members. The body is called the Conflict of Interest Commission. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Are there any general comments? Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Mr. Chairman, I believe this item is concluded. We can go on now to the A.B.C. Committee report on the Denendeh Conservation Board, and then we will deal with Bill 15. Thank you.

Does the committee agree that this matter before the House is concluded?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. I would like to thank the Languages Commissioner for appearing before the committee. I know that this has been a very intensive two days. Thank you for taking time to meet with the committee.

I would just like to thank the Members for the opportunity to come before the House and clarify some of the issues and some of the questions that they have had about the office of the Languages Commissioner. During this first year, we have dealt with a lot of issues. The conflict of interest issue, I thought, had been resolved some time ago, but if that is still a concern, then I appreciate the fact that they should be dealt with through the right channels. There are a lot of other issues about the office of the Languages Commissioner that are just as important, such as how the Languages Commissioner reports to the House, what authority the Languages Commissioner has to obtain documents from government departments, and what actions and measures can be taken within the authority of the Languages Commissioner. Those questions are still unresolved even after almost a year of working in this office. I appreciate the Members' questions. I encourage them to contact me at any time for clarification of any other matters and also with any complaints or inquiries that they have about the act or about any languages used in their area.

I would like to continue working in this position. I am very committed to it. When the issue of conflict of interest is addressed, and if there is a decision that there is a conflict of interest, then steps will be taken to resolve the conflict. I had no intention of working in this position if there was a conflict, and I was informed that there was not. That is why I continued working.

My record is open to any Member who wants to examine the activities of the office, and shows that, whatever relationship I do have with the particular Minister in question or with any other Member of this House, none of those relationships in any way have changed the way that I would deal with any issue that has been brought to my attention. I thank the Members for the chance to clarify some of these issues. I suppose I will be hearing from you. Thank you.

Again, on behalf of the committee, I would like to say thank you for appearing before the committee. I think your appearance before the committee was a constructive one. I think it was necessary, and it has helped to clear the air a bit. Thank you.

---Applause

I believe we have the concurrence of this committee to deal with the A.B.C. Committee Report 9-12(3)? Mr. Koe.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have two reports. One was on the interim report on the review of health and hospital boards. However, Mr. Chairman, there are no recommendations in this report. I would like to get concurrence to conclude this matter, because we will have a very detailed and comprehensive report in the February session.

Thank you. Do we have the blessing of the committee to conclude that item?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Mr. Koe.

Does the committee agree that we deal with that report?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you. Mr. Koe.

I have some Members who are going to assist me. Jeannie Marie-Jewell will start with some general comments, followed by Mr. Dent.

Proceed, please.

Standing Committee On Agencies, Boards And Commissions Comments

Mr. Chairman, a general point should be made from the outset about the committee's role in responding to an initiative undertaken by the government with respect to the management of public boards and agencies. The Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions has been made aware that the function and suitability of government-created boards and agencies are being evaluated by the Cabinet. This has been linked to a general recommendation in the "Strength at Two Levels" report which states that all boards and agencies should be assessed specifically in light of elimination, downsizing or consolidation.

It should be clear that review projects undertaken by the Cabinet in this regard are their own. Where certain Ministers have determined that a review is necessary and have asked for input on a specific proposal, the standing committee has been willing to consider reviewing departmental plans and providing the Cabinet with some feedback to the reporting procedures established by the rules of this House. While the committee expects to be informed about government initiatives in this area, it is not a requirement that the standing committee conduct a comprehensive review of each and every Cabinet strategy for board modification or elimination.

On certain occasions, and particularly with respect to the review of the Denendeh Conservation Board, Members of the standing committee have been concerned by public comments that Ministers' hands have been tied by the fact that the matter was being considered by the standing committee. The Cabinet should be mindful that the committee priorities have been set by the workplan that was tabled in the Legislative Assembly in Committee Report 3-12(1). Where the opportunity permits itself, the standing committee may decide to respond to ministerial requests for input on key board management issues; however, the government should realize that the standing committee takes its work very seriously and that once a request for input is accepted, the review will be a thorough one which may take some time.

In responding to the government's request for input, the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions focused initially on the authorities under which the Denendeh Conservation Board had been established. There are no statutory provisions nor established policy directives for this board. In general terms, however, the board received its mandate from an agreement between the Dene-Metis Negotiating Secretariat and the Government of the Northwest Territories in 1986. The board is a model of the sort of wildlife management board described in the Dene-Metis claim. The Minister of the day provided the board with the following operational mandate: "The Denendeh Conservation Board is authorized by the Minister of Renewable Resources to provide recommendations within the Department of Renewable Resources to the Minister. The board provides advice on wildlife, habitat and forestry issues and other issues as they relate to the department's mandate." When the Dene-Metis Comprehensive Claim process was replaced by the establishment of regional land claims for Dene-Metis, the authority for the Denendeh Conservation Board became uncertain.

This uncertainty, coupled with fiscal restraint requirements imposed by the Executive Council, impacted on the operation of the Denendeh Conservation Board. The standing committee

was advised that the board has not met since October of 1991. Mr. Chairman, I will ask our chairman of the Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions or Mr. Dent to conclude. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Dent.