In the last year you mentioned there were seven instances of Overexpenditures Hopefully they were not all with one deputy minister, but I assume that the seven instances were dealt with appropriately and that some kind of action or penalty was imposed on these individuals.
Debates of April 1st, 1992
Topics
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Fred Koe Inuvik
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Minister.
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John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, that was the previous government, and I have no knowledge of what actions were taken.
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Koe.
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Fred Koe Inuvik
For the future, then, I assume that something will
be done. This is nice to say, 'Take all reasonable measures," and the next section, 32.2(3), says, "the Minister responsible... shall submit... a report providing the details...' and I assume that whatever the disciplinary action, it will be included in this report. Is that going to be the case?
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Minister.
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John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, once the report is received by the Financial Management Board, there may be good reason for the overexpenditure, which is partly the reason that this bill is being put before you today. There are times when activities are overspent and it is not as a result of poor management, it is just one of those things that happens in government.
So I guess, based on the report and the reasons for the overexpenditure, then if there were reasons to believe that it was because of poor management, poor judgement, or just plain not caring, then there would be recommendations to the Financial Management Board to discipline that particular deputy minister.
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Koe.
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Fred Koe Inuvik
This next issue is a somewhat related one, to deal with the Financial Administration Act. What happens in cases of misappropriation or theft of funds? We have had certain cases, again related to the prior administration, but it still happens. I know individuals involved are usually penalized if found guilty. What happens to the deputy or the Minister involved?
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Minister.
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John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, as far as I can determine, although the individual who may have purloined the funds is sought out and the RCMP informed, and the individual is charged and dealt with by the courts, as far as I can determine, the circumstances surrounding that particular issue are looked at by the individual Minister responsible, and if it is felt that either the accounting systems within the department or the personnel within the department are not up to the task, shall we say, then there is provision, under the fact that the Minister is responsible, for the Minister to go to the Government Leader and suggest that his or her deputy or senior staff have not performed their duties adequately. Or if it is in the case of procedures within the department, there are suggestions made as to how to improve those procedures so there is a better check kept on things.
But I cannot say that somebody is going to be fired or what is going to happen to them. I can only assure you that if these instances occur, they will be dealt with as very serious occurrences.
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Clause 3. Agreed?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Clause 4. Agreed?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Clause 5. Agreed?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Clause 6. Agreed?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--- Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
The bill as a whole. Agreed?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Does this committee agree that Bill 24 is ready for third reading?
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
--Agreed
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The Chair Ludy Pudluk
I would like to thank the Minister of Finance and the witnesses for appearing. We will now go to Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act. Mr. Whitford, do you have opening remarks?
Minister's Opening Remarks
Bill 17, Child Day Care Act
Item 18: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
March 31st, 1992
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Tony Whitford Yellowknife South
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present to this Assembly Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, which amends sections 16 and 17 of this act. The bill incorporates the recommendations of the standing committee on legislation, which met on March 5th and again on March 31st, 1992. Presently, section 16 of the current Child Day Care Act is deficient in that it does not allow the director of child day-care services to suspend a licence of an operator of a licensed day-care facility pending an investigation of allegations of child abuse or neglect.
The director presently has the power to suspend a licence after she has issued an order requiring the operator to comply with the act or regulations and the operator refuses to do so. Also, the director presently has the power to suspend a licence without issuing an order where she has reasonable grounds to believe that an operator has contravened the act or regulations thereby endangering the health, safety or well-being of children in a licensed facility.
Mr. Chairman, as I previously indicated, these powers do not include the power to suspend a licence where the health, safety or well-being of a child or children are endangered due to suspected physical or sexual abuse or neglect. Mr. Chairman, under the proposed bill, section 16 of the act will be repealed and a new section 16 substituted with this additional power added.
Mr. Chairman, subsection 17(2) is also amended to allow the director to reinstate an operator's licence that had been suspended, upon application by the operator. A new subsection 17(3) will allow the director to reinstate a licence that has been suspended due to the health, safety or well-being of children in a facility being in endangered, without the operator having to reapply, where the director is of the opinion that the grounds for suspension no longer exist.
An example of where this would be used would be in the case where a thorough investigation into allegations had been conducted by the Department of Social Services and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and there is insufficient evidence of abuse or neglect. The director would act expediently under section 17(3) to reinstate the licence without awaiting an application from the operator.
Mr. Chairman, a decision to amend this act was made after extensive consultation with, and upon recommendations of, legal counsel and legislative counsel with the Department of Justice. Those are my remarks, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.