Excuse me, could you repeat that, Mr. Patterson.

Yes. What I meant to say, Mr. Speaker, was I seek unanimous consent to extend question period. Thank you.

Thank you. I hear that very clearly now. The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? I hear a chorus of nays. The request has been turned down.

Item 6, written questions. Mr. Dent.

Item 6, written questions. Mrs. Marie-Jewell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have three written questions. One is to the Minister of Social Services.

Would the Minister of Social Services provide to this House an organization chart which would reflect the recent personnel changes in the department, including names for the respective positions? Thank you.

I have a written question for the Minister of Personnel.

Would the Minister of Personnel please provide to this House a copy of the appraisal method used for the staff housing units which were sold in all level I communities? Thank you.

I have a written question for the Minister of Personnel.

Would the Minister of Personnel please provide to this House a list of all staff housing units which were placed on the market for sale through the real estate agent in Fort Smith? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Marie-Jewell. Item 6, written questions. Mr. Dent.

Item 6, written questions. Item 7, returns to written questions. That concludes item 7, we'll take a short recess.

---SHORT RECESS

I'll call the House back to order. We had concluded item 7. We'll go on to Item 8, replies to opening address. Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Lewis' Reply

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. First of all, Mr. Speaker, I would like to apologize to Mr. Kakfwi. Earlier on in the day in my Member's statement, I mentioned all the people who, in addition to the Yellowknife MLAs, have always supported the Council for the Disabled celebrity auction, including yourself Mr. Speaker. I omitted to mention that Mr. Kakfwi had offered to make a Sahtu dinner with mountain sheep and a whole bunch of other stuff. I apologize to him for that. There is always a danger when you make a list of all those people that have helped that you leave somebody out.

Mr. Speaker, I decided to reply today because this is a new building and it is in my constituency. I am proud that after more than 20 years, the Government of the Northwest Territories now has a permanent home. Since 1967, there has been much discussion about committing ourselves to an investment in a permanent home.

To some Members, the idea of an Assembly building represented a continuation of a long succession of institutions imported from the south which were not reflective of the inspiration of northern people. We should point out that, in fact, this building involved all sitting MLAs and a tremendous amount of consultation before it was constructed.

Many people wanted to wait until the public had confirmed exactly what kind of government we should have in the Northwest Territories. Other Members liked the idea of moving the Assembly out of the capital to the regions, from time to time. Inuit were always reluctant, Mr. Speaker, to support the building of a Legislative Assembly because it gave the wrong signal to their people about division and the creation of Nunavut.

The last barrier was removed in 1988, when the Assembly agreed to a plebiscite on division. The results of that plebiscite, Mr. Speaker, clearly were in favour of division and merely confirmed the results of the 1982 plebiscite, which came to the same conclusion. With a firm commitment to the creation of a new territory at some time in the foreseeable future, Inuit were less inclined to oppose construction of a permanent Assembly building.

Uncertainty about political developments in the west, however, still left considerable reluctance to make any permanent arrangement. In 1989, serious discussions began on constructing a building on this capital site. The lease arrangements with the Yellowknife Inn were due to expire on July 31, 1993. Eventually, it was decided to finance the building in an innovative fashion. With a certainty of lease income from the Legislative Assembly, a non-profit society was formed.

It decided to issue bonds to the general public and to secure a conventional mortgage with the Bank of Nova Scotia. The benefits were clear. The general public was offered a very secure northern investment. Instead of paying rent, the Assembly would own its own facility, for the very first time, within a 20 year period. It was expected that public reaction in Yellowknife, to the development of a facility like this on a capital site, would be very favourable. At last, the Assembly would have a permanent home in the capital city of the Northwest Territories.

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, two years after the decision to proceed with this building, the Canadian recession deepened. The Government of the Northwest Territories' expected revenues declined and the federal government made cuts in housing. The Government of the Northwest Territories was unsuccessful in collecting revenue from the federal government for health.

Mr. Speaker, the construction of basic infrastructure in the capital city has always been a very controversial issue. When the city hall was built, Mayor Henne and his council took incredible heat. When Mr. Hodgson found a mechanism to build the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, it was referred to as the "bunker" and there was little public support for it. In fact, there were all kinds of jokes about this great cement structure that was being erected on the shores of Frame Lake.

I believe the same sentiment prevailed about this place as well, Mr. Speaker. But, on the basis of previous events in this city, that sentiment will change, much as it has about the city hall and the museum. Projects such as these are one-time costs. The massive problems that lie ahead of us -- and we're all aware of them -- can not be solved by a quick fix or a one-time capital expenditure.

It is projects like this, however, that lead to charges that elected people are out of touch with their constituents. I would say, Mr. Speaker, that all of us have an obligation to explain in detail to our public, to our constituents, how these decisions were made and why. In the case of this building, the economic benefits are clear. More important, however, is the fact that the government owns very little in the city of Yellowknife that it can't easily walk away from. It rents many thousands of square feet from the private sector. It is very, very simple just to cancel leases and to go elsewhere if we so choose.

As we move towards the creation of new constitutional arrangements for the west, some of us have felt very strongly -- including you, Mr. Speaker -- the need to strengthen public government in some way. One of the ways of doing that is to put down firm roots in the capital city, with the full expectation that Yellowknife will remain the capital in any future western territory. I can not see any other possibility.

But that was the way the people of Fort Smith felt many years ago, before the decision was made to name a northern capital. It was already the administrative centre for government in the Western Arctic. It was the headquarters of the RCMP and also the Catholic Church. In terms of infrastructure, it had the biggest concentration of government-owned buildings, not leased buildings. These were things the government actually owned. Nevertheless, it was not chosen as the capital city and it left a tremendous amount of bitterness which has not been healed even today.

With the creation of some form of public government in the new western territory, we have no wish to reopen the issue of where the capital city for a new western territory should be. I'm very proud, Mr. Speaker, to sit as a Member of this first permanent home of the Legislative Assembly. As most Members know, I have taken a personal interest in the historical evolution of responsible government in the Northwest Territories. I have visited all the sites where previous Assemblies met after 1970. I've been very privileged to sit in the Assembly during these important years when important decisions about our future have been made.

I'm very proud of this place, Mr. Speaker, and all of the people who have made it possible. It's my hope that future generations of northerners, long after we've gone, will enjoy working here on behalf of northern people because northern people are the real owners of this place.

In making my reply to the Commissioner's opening address to this session, Mr. Speaker, I find myself very limited. I just said on Friday that the address of the Commissioner was little more than a brief history of the evolution of government since 1951. Traditionally, the Commissioner's address is a method of informing the public and the Members about government business in the days ahead. Replies to the address allow Members to touch on issues from the address as well as raising matters of interest to each individual Member's constituency.

When the Premier made her Sessional Statement on Friday, she gave us what was, essentially, a speech from the throne. This is not the first time this has happened. Under our rules, Mr. Speaker, we have Ministers' statements and Members' statements, but I find no reference anywhere to sessional statements.

Since the Premier's Sessional Statement has been referred to the committee of the whole, I can not refer to it in my reply to the Commissioner's address in any detail. Even though it was essentially a throne speech that she delivered.

Mr. Speaker, after the first year in office of the current government, I recall asking the Premier what had been accomplished. The question taxed the creative talent of her speech writers since virtually nothing has been accomplished in the first year. The first year was dominated by discussion of the Beatty Report. This was presented as the blueprint of the 12th Assembly. Because of what seemed like public apathy about yet more talks on the constitution, the Bourque report on constitutional development in the west was, in fact, set aside. Perhaps the real reason for this was that the Bourque report could not find public support for Strength At Two Levels, as proposed by Mr. Beatty. Increasingly, aboriginal people wanted regional governments to correspond with a provision of their land claims.

Mr. Speaker, the dilemma for all Canadians is the challenge of making do with less government, not more government. The history of the north since the 50's has shown the increasing role of government in people's lives. I've heard the Premier on several occasions mention that is the biggest challenge that we have in front of us. A challenge of making people more self-reliant and less dependent on the government. Government has created an incredible dependency. Even the private sector, directly or indirectly, is closely dependent on government spending. The problem for northerners is the sparseness of this population. It provides a very, very small tax base and we've devised very few methods, Mr. Speaker, of creating wealth. The major source of wealth in the Northwest Territories will continue to be oil and gas and mining. There are few other economic possibilities ahead of us for creating the millions of dollars all governments need for programs and infrastructure. It's my view however, that we have an obsession with this concept of government.

Unfortunately, everywhere in the western world, governments have been slashed in the face of enormous deficits. The priority of any government these days should be the creation of wealth. That means jobs, infrastructure, investment and training. The creation of more government has the opposite effect. It creates more policies, more regulations and more laws, which call for even more investment. More development of more government. I've had considerable experience at this, Mr. Speaker. I was a deputy minister for nine years. In all that time, I never saw a proposal from any of my staff to achieve more with less money. It was always to do more with more money with a demand for more staff and more programs. Hay plan people, as we well know, Mr. Speaker, are classified on the basis of the size of budget, the number of staff and the complexity of their operations. The system inevitably leads to expansion of government and classification wars between senior staff who want people bumped up to different salary levels. In my opinion, this system should be scrapped completely. In fact, you may come up with some inventive ways, such as paying one person an awful lot of money if that person can do the job with an awful lot less. That sounds like heresy, coming from a capital city, but we are going to have to look at new ways of compensating people in our system. I believe that some money could be saved.

Mr. Speaker, the reshaping northern government committee has identified ways of modernizing and streamlining government for the 1990's. The committee was established as a way of involving MLAs in the work of government. What it did however, was to create an artificial means of adding four ordinary Members to a planning and priority process already agreed on by the Cabinet, or at least part of the Cabinet.

With virtually nothing achieved in the first year of the Assembly, the government introduced a major initiative which was never part of the Strength at Two Levels report. I'm referring to decentralization. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the Beatty report recommended against decentralization. It insisted there be two levels of government and that strength be at both of those two levels. This new initiative, after a year of stagnation, was clearly designed to get support for a stagnating government.

What really occurred was not real decentralization, it was recentralization. What was centralized in one place, you just centralized it somewhere else and those places were usually of interest to Members of the Cabinet. There's been virtually no contact between the reshaping committee and ordinary Members. It's become part, in my opinion, of an extended Cabinet and I've got nothing against that, as long as we recognize what we're doing and what we're doing to struggle in the development of our system of government.

The overwhelming support for decentralization, Mr. Speaker, from ordinary Members, was not easy to counter by Yellowknife MLAs who have been accused, by many of our Members, of being very quiet and docile. In fact, one day I was even called a wimp because of my inability to stop this process of asking people to relocate to places that they didn't want to go particularly. Although close to 100 positions were to be relocated, the natural growth of staff in Yellowknife has in fact replaced those people who have been asked to leave. This, of course, didn't help those people who were asked to relocate and Yellowknife MLAs have had to deal with their concerns.

Mr. Speaker, the decision to get out of staff housing has caused problems in the regions. Other MLAs have now been faced with the same problem that Yellowknife MLAs faced four years ago when it was introduced and we took a tremendous amount of heat over that, as you will recall. However, Mr. Speaker, the decision is a right one. The challenge now is to secure investment in northern housing. I support, although it's full of dangers and uncertainties, Mr. Todd's initiative in trying to establish some kind of mortgage investment corporation. Our Special Committee on the Northern Economy recognized the lack of banks and other financial services as an impediment to our economy four years ago. That gap still remains an investment, there's still a major problem.

I believe the new capital planning process is an improvement in helping local contractors prepare for construction. The use of negotiated contracts, however, can clearly result in abuses which the normal tendering process seeks to avoid. When dollars are short and the need for housing and other infrastructure remains a top priority, special value-for-money orders should be automatically made for all negotiated contracts. Not the usual orders that public accounts are familiar with, but value-for-money orders to see if in fact this system is working.

I'm pleased to see the progress in transferring programs to communities. This government began its work 25 years ago by making local government a top priority. It should, in my opinion, remain a priority. In my view, the powers of what ever regional bodies emerge will depend on what further powers the federal government is prepared to place in the hands of northerners. Mr. Chretien indicated in his address last week, he's prepared to devolve further powers after continuing the process of devolution he began as a Minister of DIAND 25 years ago. What must clearly be avoided in any further constitution, Mr. Speaker, and I'm very serious about this, is weakness at three levels. That would be the worst of all possible worlds and it's a danger that could very easily emerge, if we are not very careful.

Governments can perform three major functions, in my view, in our economy. It deals with investment, with training and with the development of infrastructure. I've said previously in this Assembly, but it bears repeating, governments don't really manage economies. They can only create favourable conditions under which economic growth can occur. Occasionally, they can invest to give it a kick start when things are sluggish, and investment will continue to be a major challenge. Every year the government pumps more than $1 billion into the service of northern people but even this isn't enough. Private money is badly needed. Unfortunately, private money seems to be flowing elsewhere, not within our own jurisdiction. More ideas, like the mortgage investment corporation are needed. And as I said, it's full of risks, full of dangers, it may not happen, but it's worthwhile looking at because it would find a way of bringing money in, instead of seeing money go out all the time.

A major challenge for this Government, Mr. Speaker, is the development of our human resources through training. Our decision to combine education with employment reflects exactly what has happened in the federal government and many governments have moved in that direction as they realize that that's the major challenge that we face in this world, if we are to remain competitive. Our people need to learn the modern skills of survival, as well as the old skills, which we hope they will retain.

Governments have always played a major role in building infrastructure. In fact, as you recall, Mr. Speaker, because you've been around a long time, the first 25 years of this government was dominated by the pressure to build infrastructure. That was the achievement. There wasn't much politics, not much sensitivity perhaps, but the accomplishment was to build infrastructure which we can see around us today.

In fact, Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons why Nunavut wasn't created 25 years ago was the weakness in these three areas of investment, training and infrastructure. We just weren't ready. Now things have changed. These challenges still remain however, Mr. Speaker, for both the eastern and western parts of the Northwest Territories. The biggest challenge, though, is in the development of our people, since attractive investment and the building of infrastructure are by comparison technical issues and much more easily achieved.

I know most people still see me as a school teacher. However, Mr. Speaker, the last time I taught in a school was in 1967, in Igloolik. That was more than 25 years ago. I've seen enormous changes since those days and they've not all been improvements. Attendance at those times were close to 100 per cent. Dropouts were unheard of, except for children returning to camp with their parents. Children and adults wanted to learn and they were incredibly self-disciplined and hard working.

I suppose, Mr. Speaker, I'm in the winter of my career. Work has always been very important to me. It's been my observation over a lifetime that disciplined, hard working people are happy people.

The report of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services outlines what occurs in a society which lacks all these basic requirements of discipline and a work place which offers them an opportunity for employment. This is the root, in my opinion, of many of our problems.

I don't know who invented the myth, Mr. Speaker, that laying in the sun all day with nothing to do is the true definition of happiness. The same could be said about wandering around aimlessly in a settlement with no where to go and nothing to do. People only have to look at themselves in a full-length mirror and they can see they were designed to work. That's what makes us different. We're designed to work, to do things and to make things.

School, in my view, should be a work place where children not only play but also learn how to work. It's where all the skills you need to survive in this world are taught. Unfortunately, because of changing fashions, we've gone through several phases over the last generation that stresses freedom, liberation, creativity and all those wonderful things. I would suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, however, that you don't need schools to achieve that. Let everyone stay at home and wonder around, you'd save millions of dollars and people would really be free and liberated, but my guess is that they would be very unhappy and very unfulfilled.

The development of our people is still our major challenge, everybody recognizes it all across the western world. To be competitive you have to have skilled people, disciplined people and hard working people. If they don't improve themselves they fall further and further behind as the rest of the world jumps ahead and brings in rapid, technological change. If we don't improve our system, we continue to fill northern jobs with southern people who are well-trained, motivated and hungry for work, because there's not much in many parts of this great country of ours.

I've heard several schemes to push our young people harder. I met last summer with the Commissioner and a group of people who want to promote what's called Outward Bound. This is a kind of army boot camp operation which makes young people meet many challenges on the land. I worked with Outward Bound more than 35 years ago, as an instructor, Mr. Speaker, and it works. You can see the changes in people after they've done things they never ever thought they could.

We made a proposal in our SCONE report a few years ago, Mr. Speaker, and there have been many other suggestions which have a similar goal. Our leadership school concept was another approach we tried, modeled on the residential program at Grandin College. Others have suggested we send 100 of our best and brightest students to colleges around the world and hope that something would come of it.

One of the unfortunate things about politics, Mr. Speaker, is that we work within short time frames from election to election, and can't take the long view. In politics, the long view will kill you. Although, as I stated at the outset, we must find ways of making people independent of government and find alternatives to government employment, we should start working where we can achieve results. That is within our own public service.

There is a need within the next five years to develop aboriginal and other northern people to assume jobs at the highest level of government. One of the most successful ways of achieving these goals in our system, in my opinion, would be through a system of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship works. This was done with a good effect by the federal government in its northern careers program. I could envisage a system of apprenticeship sustained by wage levels and percentages of the target positions. The advantages of this system are that the total government work place would be the training ground, and the current senior staff could play an important role in passing on their knowledge of skills learned in this system, in this environment. Our own Arctic College could help develop the program with the assistance of senior government staff and, in my opinion, it should start right away. I don't think we can afford to wait very much longer.

Of course, this wouldn't solve the huge, long-range problems of developing our people, but it would be a place to start. I should point out that not everyone wants to be a bureaucrat, and excellent academic ability is no guarantee of success. If carefully planned, a large number of high level northern jobs could be filled by northerners. I can't stress enough that we should plan the program so we get the results we want. Too often we have developed problems, but then we don't produce the results we expect. We produce results -- and I've referred in the past to, for example, Grandin College, it had wonderful results, but the original idea behind it was to create priests. It changed over the years but that's what the plan was, to make sure you get enough input into the priesthood.

It's the same with the teacher training program. You set it up and then many people decide to do something else. It's good, it produces something, but it doesn't achieve the results that you set it up to achieve. I think that what we do should be oriented and focused toward getting people into the system and helping them to be successful in it.

As our work place becomes more sophisticated and diversified, labour issues will dominate, Mr. Speaker. Already we have seen our government attempting to fit northern workers into boxes that don't fit. The best example is the use of the Workers' Compensation Board to compensate self-employed hunters and trappers. This was never the intention of the WCB, and I don't have to explain exactly what the WCB was created to solve.

I agree that the proposed listening panel with the work place commission is probably the best approach to be used. A political approach would, in my opinion, be the very worst system you could use. The major lesson to be learned over the next decade is the full significance of employer/employee relationships and how the interests of both are protected. The other issue is the support you need for self-employed people in all areas of the economy. The secret agenda of the government will likely include some form of legislation, and the choices are obvious: either some limited anti-replacement worker legislation with very severe limits on it so companies can still operate but can't hire the full complement of people it would need; or, alternatively, depending upon the political ideology of the government, some form of right-to-work legislation which makes it clear that individuals do have the right to work in our work place.

One feature of the government agenda which has been very carefully stated is the one about privatization of the Power Corporation. Although the Premier has talked about next steps in turning the Power Corporation into a user-friendly utility, it is clear the government intends to privatize or nearly complete privatization by 1995. I should tell the Premier I do not intend, at the moment, to support this initiative. I've already supported, at great political cost, a tax measure introduced by this government which targeted many of my constituents. They didn't appreciate it, and there's a strong feeling that on major issues like this one MLAs should use whatever means necessary to gauge public opinion before voting.

Initial reaction in my constituency this summer, Mr. Speaker, towards privatization was not very favourable at all. My major concern goes beyond responding to the concerns of dozens of people in my riding. We have already set up a committee to examine the division of assets between east and west, pending the division of the Northwest Territories. If we privatize the corporation we will be taking away a major instrument of social policy for Nunavut. Privatizing power in Nunavut, in my opinion, would be almost like privatizing wildlife. I can't see how Nunavut could possibly be a viable political entity if power is in private hands, it relies entirely upon imported diesel and there are no proven energy alternatives for Nunavut settlements. The control of power would be essential for social and public policy in any future Nunavut government. In the opinion of many, the Power Corporation is undervalued. If it is privatized, Nunavut will be faced with the high financial burden of purchasing it once again from private owners at a price that perhaps they won't be prepared to afford. The people should know that this will be the effect of this privatization initiative. In my opinion, it is an unfriendly act towards the creation of Nunavut.

Mr. Speaker, I've stopped publishing my newspaper, The Blade. Some of my constituents found it too frivolous and said I should get down to more serious business than publishing things that go on in this House that may be of a more light-hearted nature. I found over the last year, Mr. Speaker, that local constituency meetings don't attract a lot of attention. That's understandable because in this city, politicians are very easily accessible.

However, I will continue my practice of doing telephone polls in my constituency on all controversial issues, especially after my experience with the payroll tax. Of course, I do a lot of walking, as many of you know, on the Yellowknife streets and we often exchange information. I keep in contact with the people I represent in that fashion.

This was going to be much longer, Mr. Speaker, but I decided in the interest of your patience and of keeping your good will, that I will stop right here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Item 8, replies to opening address. Item 9, replies to budget address. Item 10, petitions. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with its terms and reference, the Standing Committee on Finance is pleased to report on the review of the 1994-95 Capital Estimates of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Committee consists of myself as chairman, Mrs. Marie-Jewell as deputy chairperson and, Members are

: Mr. James Arvaluk; Mr. Charles Dent; Mr. Dennis Patterson; Mr. Henry Zoe; the Management and Services Board assignment, Mr. Kelvin Ng; and alternate Member, Silas Arngna'naaq.

Introduction

Mr. Speaker, the "accumulated surplus" position of the Government of the Northwest Territories has declined in recent years. If the current level of operations and capital spending continues, the government will soon find itself in a situation of accumulated deficit. Borrowing money to finance a deficit is an option that is simply not available to the Government of the Northwest Territories. The current level of revenues raised through taxes and otherwise, adds up to a small fraction of the funding required to meet the real needs of our citizens.

Members of the Standing Committee on Finance strongly believe that this government must pursue the objective of maintaining an accumulated surplus position. The review of capital forecasts impressed upon committee Members the growing difficulty the government faces in attempting to respond, in a fiscally responsible way, to the fundamental needs of all our citizens.

We must all work towards solutions but, clearly, the Minister of Finance and Cabinet must provide the leadership to achieve a consensus on the strategies that are required to limit spending and maintain a strong financial position.

Capital Planning Process

Capital Planning Strategy

In its report on the 1993-94 capital estimates, the committee made the following recommendation: The committee recommends that Cabinet develop, and report in the 1994-95 capital estimates, a strategic approach to the capital program identifying, among other things: i) the purpose and goals; ii) rationale for the allocation of budget resources between capital and operations; iii) rationale for the allocation of budget resources between programs and communities; iv) rationale for the specification, construction, acquisition and disposal of capital assets; v) and information requirements of departments and agencies to ensure that the capital program is being allocated fairly and equitably, and is being currently operated with due regard to efficiency, economy and effectiveness.

The Financial Management Board responded to this recommendation in its presentation to the standing committee. The government's capital planning strategy was presented under the following headings: capital planning objectives; allocation of capital to meet capital needs assessment; additional factors in determining capital requirements; balancing needs within the funds allocated; meeting government's priorities through allocations; multi-year planning targets; and capital planning consultation process.

With respect to addressing the information requirements, the Financial Management Board noted that the development of a comprehensive government wide "informatics strategy" has been initiated.

Capital Spending Priorities

The chairman of the Financial Management Board, in his opening remarks to the committee, identified the following capital spending priorities: 1) housing programs; 2) education programs; 3) health, social and cultural programs; 4) municipal and recreational programs; 5) transportation and tourism programs; and 6) other government programs.

He noted that these capital priorities have been established based on Legislative Assembly and community consultation. Generally, the committee is supportive of the government's focus, however some qualifying comments are in order.

Committee Members feel that the number one priority assigned to capital spending on housing is due more to the withdrawal of federal funding than a balanced assessment of real need. The federal government should live up to its fiduciary responsibility to provide housing to aboriginal people. The Government of the Northwest Territories could, then, shift its priorities for capital spending. The standing committee feels that, if housing programs were supported by the federal government, education programs could and should become the number one priority for capital expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The committee recognizes that the funding cuts to social housing programs are an immediate crisis. However, Members believe that education should be established as the number one priority over the long term. The committee's rationale for this suggestion is based on a number of considerations.

The committee believes that it is through an investment in education that we may become more independent of the federal government. By educating young people, we will be able to build a stronger economic base. With an educated population, there should be less reliance on other programs such as housing and social services.

Further, the committee feels that the allocation of capital resources for 1994-95 and the plans for future years do not reflect the priorities established by the government. For example, while social programs are ranked as number three priority, the capital budget for the Department of Social Services is $4.6 million out of a total capital budget of approximately $180 million.

Consultation Process

The committee notes that there have been improvements to the capital planning process over the last few years. A consultation process has been initiated. The government consults with communities through their local governments and Members of the Legislative Assembly. These enhancements are designed to ensure that this government's capital budget is reflective of the real capital needs of the citizens and their communities.

There is still room for improvement in the consultation process. The committee noted, during its review, several examples where there were problems with the community input in the capital planning process. In some instances, capital projects were not scheduled in accordance with community priorities. In other cases, consultations with communities did not result in changes to the capital plans to reflect identified community needs.

Five Year Capital Plans

In its report on the 1992-93 capital estimates, the Standing Committee on Finance recommended that the government present the 1993-94 capital estimates to the Legislative Assembly in the form of a five year capital plan. The government provided the 1993-94 capital forecast to the Standing Committee on Finance in the form of a five year plan. However, the five year plan format was not carried forward to the capital estimates document provided to the Legislative Assembly.

The 1994-95 capital forecast documents provide a second opportunity for the committee to review the capital estimates in the context of a five year plan. As a result, the committee was able, this year, to compare current year plans with those put forward for the fiscal year 1994-95.

Committee Review Process

The primary focus of the committee's review of the 1994-95 capital forecast was projects planned for that fiscal year. However, consideration was also given to the following: prior and current year expenditures, particularly where these departed significantly from what was reported in the 1993-94 capital forecast; major new projects planned for the five year period following 1994-95 and beyond; and any significant changes to departments' and communities' capital plans.

A comprehensive review was conducted by using the committee's guiding principles while, at the same time, focusing on maintaining a balanced budget.

Capital Overview

Capital Spending By Constituency

Committee Members are guided by the principle that their job is to ensure equity, fairness and universality of benefit to all residents of the Northwest Territories. In assessing adherence to that principle, the committee reviewed planned capital spending in each constituency in the Northwest Territories for 1993-94 and 1994-95. This information is displayed in Appendix B of this document. Expenditures by constituency have been adjusted from those reported in the capital forecasts. Expenditures reported by region and headquarters have been divided among the communities in all constituencies.

Implications Of The Capital Forecast For Operations And Maintenance Spending

The Financial Management Board provided the standing committee with two tables regarding the O and M implications of the 1994-95 capital projects. These tables are attached to this report as Appendix C. One table presents a summary of the direct O and M implications, while the second table shows a summary of indirect O and M incremental costs for maintenance and utilities.

Reporting Changes In Capital Plans And Expenditures

Committee Members raised concerns about the presentation and accuracy of the information provided in the Five Year Capital Forecast 1994-95 - 1998-99 document. In particular, the committee noted that, in many instances the reporting of prior and current year capital expenditures vary considerably over those reported a year earlier; and the "total" amount reported does not appear to represent the total expenditures for a particular project.

Further, the committee noted that the documents do not distinguish between situations where previous years' funds have lapsed, been transferred between capital projects, or carried forward to the following year. Therefore, the committee recommends the following:

Recommendation 1

The committee recommends that the Financial Management Board clarify and ensure consistency in the reporting of prior year, current year and "total" expenditures in the five year capital forecast documents. The committee further recommends that the modifications, which address the difficulties identified, be contained in the five year capital forecast 1995-96 to 1999-2000 document.

While recognizing that capital forecasts are a planning tool and, by definition, subject to change, the committee was concerned by the many projects where there was a significant change in proposed expenditures from fiscal year to fiscal year. These changes were not always accompanied by an explanation. Substantiation is provided only for projects incurring costs in the target fiscal year, which in this case is 1994-95. Therefore, the committee recommends the following:

Recommendation 2

The committee recommends that the Financial Management Board provide substantiation for any changes over $100,000 in planned expenditures. The committee further recommends that these substantiations be contained in the five year capital forecast 1995-96 to 1999-2000 document.

Mr. Speaker, that concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Finance on its review of the 1994-95 capital estimates.

Motion That Committee Report 3-12(4) Be Received And Moved To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

Therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the report of the Standing Committee on Finance on its Review of the 1994-95 Capital Estimates be received by the Assembly and moved into committee of the whole. Mahsi.

The motion is in order, Mr. Antoine. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

---Applause

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive rule 93(4) to permit the report of the Standing Committee of Finance on its Review of the 1994-95 Capital Estimates to be moved into committee of the whole today. Mahsi.

The honourable Member is seeking unanimous consent. Are there any nays? There are no nays. Committee Report 3-12(4), Standing Committee on Finance report on the Review of the 1994-95 Capital Estimates will be placed in committee of the whole today. Item 11, reports of standing and special committees. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents: Tabled Document 4-12(4), Annual Report of the Workers' Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories for the year 1992; and, Tabled Document 5-12(4), the corporate plan for 1994-96 of the Workers' Compensation Board of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Mr. Pollard.

FOR FIRST READING OF BILLS

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 24, 1993 I shall move that Bill 2, an Act to Amend the Charter Communities Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Mr. Pollard.