Thank you, Madam Speaker, thank you, colleagues. There are three major areas of concern with this Minister. One, the Minister is not open when questioned by Members. The purpose of question period is to raise areas of concern with the Minister, not to personally attack her. However, the Minister takes all questions as attacks, dealing with them in a hostile and defensive manner. The Minister has also failed to take full responsibility for her department, instead, constantly referring to the problems left by previous Ministers.
Two, Members were appalled when Ms. Mike admitted she has disregarded the interim reports of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services. Those reports were issued to allow the government to begin working on this important area. It is inexcusable that the Minister has, essentially, ignored these reports. Members expected her to work more actively with the special committee in a cooperative way, rather than sitting back and waiting for the final recommendations.
Three, as the Minister responsible for Social Services, it is incumbent upon her to push social issues in Cabinet. Ms. Mike has assumed no leadership in this area and, as a result, social issues do not appear to be a Cabinet priority.
In reviewing the Government Leader -- the Premier -- the Members have higher expectations than those for Ministers. Members were looking for the Government Leader to provide broad leadership within Cabinet. They also expected the Government Leader to assist and support less-experienced Ministers. They were looking for evidence that she has created a team, which works together towards a common goal, rather than a group of mavericks pursuing their own, individual interests.
The Premier, Ms. Cournoyea, received a grading of C. Although her answers were satisfactory, they were not as convincing and as inspiring as Members had expected to hear from the Government Leader. In reviewing Ms. Cournoyea's comments, Members were concerned about the following issues with regard to what they heard from her. One, there seems to be a lack of policy-making capacity at the Cabinet level. Too many decisions seem to be reactions to specific situations, rather than part of an overall plan. As well, programs are implemented without a sound policy base, so it is difficult to ensure that programs are properly focused and moving in a consistent direction. Two, the Government Leader seems to lack a process to receive political advice on the issues from both Cabinet Ministers and MLAs. Three, the political agenda seems to be driven by the bureaucracy. Four, the Cabinet does not seem to work together as a team. There is little evidence of Cabinet unity for a clearer framework which guides the decision-making process of the Cabinet.
Strong leadership, which would inspire all Cabinet Members to work together toward a common goal, is missing. The Cabinet priorities seem to be set by whoever is the loudest and most forceful in presenting their case. Although social issues are a priority of the Assembly, they have not received priority within Cabinet. The Government Leader has not ensured a balance on the Cabinet agenda.
Madam Speaker, the Ministers Cournoyea and Nerysoo, Members will be looking for improvement in the areas of concern.
The Ordinary Members' Caucus is placing Ms. Mike on probation. The decision was made that she would be advised of Members' concerns and given an opportunity to improve her performance. Members are expecting a dramatic improvement in her performance by the time the House reconvenes for the budget session, a few months from now. If improvement is not evident, Members will consider removing Ms. Mike from the Cabinet, at that time.
It is expected that all Ministers will take heed of the concern, and work cooperatively together to achieve the team that is required for Cabinet to be successful. This includes working with each other in a supportive way.
Members would like to thank Ministers for their efforts to provide us with well-thought out answers to our questions during the review. Thank you, Madam Speaker.