Question is being called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

--- Carried

Bill 17 has had second reading and accordingly the bill stands referred to a committee. Second reading of bills, Item 18, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters: Committee Report 5-2(2), Standing Committee on Agencies, Boards and Commissions' Report on Appointment of Members to the Workers' Compensation Board; Tabled Document 9-12(2), Strength at Two Levels; Tabled Document 10-12(2), Reshaping Northern Government; Tabled Document 12-12(2), Plebiscite Direction; Bill 14, Appropriation Act, No. 1,1992-93; and Committee Report 3-12(2), SCOF Review of the 1992-93 Capital Estimates, with Mr. Arvaluk in the chair.

This committee is now in order. Committee Report 5-12(2), Report on Appointment of Members to the Workers' Compensation Board. Chairman of the committee, Mr. Koe.

Opening Remarks From The Standing Committee On Agencies, Boards And Commissions

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will speak to this committee report on the appointment of members to the Workers' Compensation Board. The committee's review of this issue arose as a direct result of Ministers' Statement 24-12(2). In that statement the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board announced appointments to fill two vacancies that presently exist on the Workers' Compensation Board. Mr. Chairman, statements and questions raised by the ordinary Members following the Minister's statement highlighted the fact that inadequate consultation had taken place prior to the announcement. More seriously, in making these appointments the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board chose to overlook the fact that this House in its first session passed a motion recommending that no board appointments should be made until March 31, 1992. Mr. Chairman, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions brought this motion to the House in the first committee report tabled in the 12th Legislative Assembly. We considered this to be a significant motion, one which is necessary to provide the time for the government and standing committee to take stock of the way boards and agencies operate in the Northwest Territories. It is especially vital in the case of the Workers' Compensation Board, which already had been targeted by the standing committee for a comprehensive review.

When we met this morning, the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions was very concerned about the way this Minister disregarded these considerations and without adequate consultation with other honourable Members of this Assembly, proceeded to appoint these two new members to the Workers' Compensation Board. We considered it an outrage to view the Minister's actions in this regard. The standing committee considered these actions undermined the committee process, and indeed can be regarded as threatening the very spirit of our consensus system of government.

Motion To Express Displeasure With Timing Of Minister's Appointments To Workers' Compensation Board

Mr. Chairman, I would like to move that this Legislative Assembly express its extreme displeasure with the actions of the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board in making appointments to the membership of the Workers' Compensation Board, in direct contradiction to the position this House adopted on December 12, 1991, which recommended that the filling of board vacancies be postponed until after March 31, 1992.

Thank you, Mr. Koe. The motion is being passed around to the Members. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Koe.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am making this motion on behalf of, and at the request of, my honourable colleagues on the standing committee on agencies, boards and commissions. Members of the committee consider this to be a very serious motion. This is a motion of censure. We are bringing forward this motion in the hope that it would make it apparent to the Minister, and to cabinet as a whole, that the standing committees are serious in fulfilling their assigned roles and responsibilities. We have concerns about the apparent attitude of the Minister in this case, and we are not willing to stand by silently. I therefore urge all my honourable colleagues to support this motion today. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Koe. To the motion. Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not be voting on this motion, obviously, but I would like to have the chance to make a few comments, if I may. First of all, when I was first appointed to this position, I met with the Workers' Compensation Board at the first opportunity, and in the general discussion that followed one of the strong recommendations of the board and of the chairman to me was that they were having real difficulty getting on with their business because they were operating with a bare quorum. They said they had been waiting for some considerable time hoping that vacancies on the board would be filled, because it was impairing the operations of the board. This was also raised to me by the chairman, at one of our first meetings, as a problem that I should attend to, because it was impairing the operations of the board. When members from the four people who were on the board were unavailable, then the board could not meet and could not expeditiously do its work.

So, Mr. Chairman, that was put to me by the board and chairman as something that I should urgently deal with, and I proceeded to do so. Mr. Chairman, I would also like to note that, and I will refer to the chairman of the ABC committee's report that appointments, if made, "Where it is clearly in the public interest," and I would respectfully suggest that I at least had a basis for thinking it was necessary for this board to do its work to have a little bit more cushion on the quorum, that where those appointments were required that they "be made for the shortest possible term."

I would like to point out that although the Workers' Compensation Act allows appointments for up to a maximum of five years, I have made these two appointments for one year. So, Mr. Chairman, I think at least somewhat in the spirit of the motion of the House, these are short-term appointments and certainly not of the length that would ordinarily be filled. Finally...

Point of order, Mr. Zoe.

Mr. Zoe, I will have to rule that Mr. Patterson is in order, because he is talking about the membership, which is right in the motion. Mr. Patterson.

Reasons For Workers' Compensation Board Appointments

There is just one other point that I would like to make, Mr. Chairman. I understand, from talking to the chairperson of the agencies, boards and commissions committee, that they are anxious to review the operations of the Worker's Compensation Board. I want to make it clear, and I have written to the chairman stating this, that I welcome the ABC committee's interest in this board, for which I am responsible to report to the House. Furthermore, I will be pleased to co-operate fully with the committee in its work in reviewing the board and providing what ever information the committee might need to do its job.

I would like to just offer one other reason why I felt it was important to recommend to cabinet that some appointments be made now rather than later, Mr. Chairman, and that is for the reason of continuity. Mr. Chairman, the board appointments are now set to expire in June and July, within a very short space of time. My concern, Mr. Chairman, was that if it should be decided that there be replacements of the present members of the Workers' Compensation Board, you could have a situation, without appointments being made a few months earlier as these two have been made -- you could have a situation where you could have a completely new board in place in June or July, and possibly a new chairman as well. This lack of continuity is something that I am sure all Members would agree is generally not desirable with important boards with important responsibilities.

It is desirable, I believe, to stagger the terms where ever possible so that if board members are replaced there will not be a wholesale turnover of the board resulting in all new inexperienced members sitting on the board. It was with that factor of a cushion for turnover that I also recommended to cabinet that these two vacancies be filled sooner, rather than later, because I felt that if we waited until June or July and it was decided to reappoint most existing or all existing members to the board, then you would have a whole new board coming in all at once with no background or experience.

Those were some of the factors in mind, Mr. Chairman, and I do want to say that I do appreciate some Members' comments the other day in speaking to this, that we are not talking about the individuals appointed, that it is the process of appointment that is of concern. I take it to mean that Members of the Assembly generally feel that while we may have found capable people to sit on the board, the process that was followed was objectionable, or outrageous, I guess, is the term I should use.

Mr. Chairman, I hope these comments are of some assistance to Members in considering this motion. I just want to say, inclosing, that we did have a chance to discuss this matter fully in caucus earlier this week. I did appreciate the offer of Members of caucus to have input on appointments to this very important board. I have invited their input, and I welcome their suggestions about who could go on this board from hereon in. With the ABC committee's interest in reviewing the operations of the WCB, I hope we can work together from here on in, in a co-operative fashion to look at this board, to consider their recommendations for change, and to have those recommendations dealt with before any further appointments need to be dealt with in June or July.

I hear what the chairman is saying. I do accept the advice, and I think, at least from here on in, that we can consider the advice of that committee before any further appointments are made. Qujannamiik.

To the motion. Mr. Nerysoo.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had not thought of speaking until Mr. Patterson spoke. I think the process was more than unfair. I think the fact is that the Minister did not think it necessary to consult all Members of the Assembly to seek their advice on the matter of appointments. In fact, he spoke only to certain Members of this House, to seek their advice, and did not even have the courtesy to provide Members of this House with any notice that he would be seeking the idea of appointing new members to the Workers' Compensation Board. I think that was pretty unfair. I hope that in future, whether or not it is this particular board or others, that all Members will receive the same kind of courtesy of consultation and involvement.

I think the fundamental concern and principle that is the basis of this particular motion is the matter of having Members of this House involved in determining the manner in which our government will be run and how our particular regions will be represented in a direction and manner in which our influences are heard and are to be seen. If our influence is not important, then I guess we should be told that. I do think it was pretty unfair, and I think that it was wrong, more than just to suggest that it was an error. That is all that I want to say at this particular time.

Thank you. To the motion. Mr. Dent.

Disappointment With Process In Workers' Compensation Board Appointments

Mrs. Marie-Jewell. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did want to make a couple of comments in respect to the motion. I have no problem supporting it, as I indicated my displeasure in the House a couple of days ago when the announcements were made. Basically my displeasure is on the process of the appointments, and not the appointees, because there is no doubt in my mind, as I said before, that I feel Mr. Wray is capable of doing the work. I do not know Mr. Kuptana, however. I think it is the process that has been used on this whole issue of these appointments that has disturbed the Members. There seem to be some blatant actions of ignoring recommendations of this House, and that is what is a concern to Members, a concern to myself particularly.

I recognize the Minister stated that it was upon the advice of the chairman, and in discussions with the board they feel that they needed more members. What seems ironic is the fact that under his leadership as the Government Leader, he concurred to down-size that board, and when he concurred with that he should have thought whether or not it would be difficult with their members, that they would have problems with getting a quorum. So you cannot basically say one thing, and then at a later date say another thing contradicting your actions.

I did want to state, in concurrence with the committee, that there was a recommendation in this House adopted in December. It was unanimously passed in this House. The government concurred with it. The government complimented the committee for its work, and a mere two months later, they did totally, actions against what this recommendation had asked them to do. I feel that it is not only disappointing to Members of the House who spend their time in committee meetings, meeting until sometimes 10:00 o'clock at nightseeing what they are going to do with their plan of action as a committee members -- and then for it to be totally ignored-- I think that it is ignorant of Ministers not to consider, even consider, recommendations of this House.

With respect to the way it was fulfilled, I said my viewpoint and I will say it again, that I do not believe any appointment on any board that should be respecting the wishes of the people of the Territories or looking after the interests of the people of the Territories, regardless of where they are, that the appointment selection should only be to whoever the Minister wants to consult with. He has been a Minister long enough to know that he should be conscientious in advising all Members that these appointments were to be made available, and to ask for our input.

I think the fundamental point here that Members want to make is that the Minister has to respect Members of this House in consulting before he makes decisions that affect our constituents and until he learns that he is going to keep getting criticism by Members of this House. He has to be accountable to Members that represent viewpoints on behalf of their constituents. So with that, Mr. Chairman, I do want you to know that I have no problem supporting this motion. Thank you.

To the motion. To the motion.

Question.

The question is being called. Those in favour of the motion? Opposed? The motion is carried.

--- Carried

Back to general comments on the Committee Report 5-12(2). Do we agree, then, that this matter is to be concluded?

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Does the committee, then, wish to go to Bill 14 with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs? Is that agreed?

Agreed.

--- Agreed

We will recess for 15 minutes before we start.

---SHORT RECESS

Bill 14, Appropriation Act, No. 1, 1992-93 And Committee Report 3-12(2)

Will the committee come to order. What does this committee wish to do now? We are on Bill 14, Appropriation Act, No. 1, 1992-93. Does this committee wish to go to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs?

Agreed.

--- Agreed