Thank you. Mr. Zoe.
Debates of Feb. 25th, 1993
Topics
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
Henry Zoe North Slave
Mr. Chairman, what is the current turn around time on applications which are submitted to the BCC?
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Thank you. Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, there are all kinds of times. Where we get confused on the turn around time is from filling in the forms and sending them in and whether or not they appear before the board. Sometimes that can take a long time because the forms go back and forth as more information is required to enable us to present it to the BCC. Part of this is our fault because of our EDOs, perhaps they are not asking the correct questions in assisting these people. We are trying to improve on this. Once a loan application is filled out properly then it does not take that long to get it before the board. I would say that the board could turn those kind of things around in 30 days, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Thank you. Mr. Zoe.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
Henry Zoe North Slave
Mr. Chairman, the Minister has indicated he figures the board can turn around these applications within 30 days, however, in reality this is not the case. Both he and I know it because of the problems which he has just outlined. With those problems in existence, what are we looking at, is it six months, three months: it is not 30 days. What is the average current turn around time? This is what I am asking. As the Minister has indicated, I realize part of the problem is the collection of information to go along with the application. Regarding the current turn around with all of the problems which exist, do you understand what I am trying to say, Mr. Minister?
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, I would like to differentiate between how long it takes the board to make a decision and how long it takes an application to set the stage where the board can make a decision. That is two components. The board is quite fast. It can be days. It certainly is not longer than 30 days, to my knowledge. If you take the overall time, though, we have measured as long as 84 days, from the time the person fills in the first application form until they find out from the board if they have been successful or not. Much of that time is taken up in all kinds of things, such as getting the legal description of the asset which you are going to place as collateral, stating how much you have in the bank, how much your existing business is worth, and providing an audited statement. It takes a long time to put those things together. We have measured that time as high as 84 days, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Thank you. Mr. Zoe.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
Henry Zoe North Slave
Mr. Chairman, the Minister outlined the type of problem which various clients are encountering. I hope the department is seriously looking at trying to rectify this particular problem. Part of the problem could be the application form itself. I am not sure if they use a proposal type of application which they submit to the BCC or if it is an actual printed form by our government. If this is the case, perhaps these type of questions should be incorporated into these forms. That way you would not have to go back and forth to retrieve the various information. Perhaps a second look at our forms should be considered. Mahsi.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Thank you. Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
John Pollard Hay River
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is already being done. Not wanting to be defensive, when you are applying for $10,000 or $200,000, there has to be a little bit from the client also. There has to be some responsibility on their part to provide the information to our staff. I admit that sometimes people do not understand exactly what they have to supply. We are trying to make it easier for them. I would stress again that there has to be some responsibility on the part of the applicant. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
The Chair Ludy Pudluk
Thank you. Mr. Zoe.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 623
Henry Zoe North Slave
I agree with the Minister that some responsibility has to lie with the client. On the other hand, we have economic development officers who are there to assist. I
would hope these individuals would have the knowledge, when they are utilizing these applications, of what the requirements are in order for the application to go through the system smoothly. The Minister is aware of these problems within his department.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to turn to another area, short-term employment programs. If the Minister recalls, I think it was last year we passed a motion with regard to the level of funding for this particular program. With the UIC requirements today, the length of time which is required to get on to UIC, we suggested that the Minister take a serious look at reviewing the length of the program. For instance, if community "A" puts in an application for "X" number of people to work on a program, we have asked the Minister if he can stretch it out to whatever the UIC requirement is, so that after that project is over they will be eligible to qualify for UIC benefits. I am not sure as to what the Minister has done in this area. If I recall correctly, Mr. Chairman, we also asked the Minister to increase the level of funding. I do not believe that this is in the budget.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. I believe that was a question for the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, the funds for the STEP program, which were previously in Economic Development and Tourism, have been transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment Programs. Although the funds are shown as $412,000 in our budget, that amount will be transferred to Education. The administration will be done by Education effective April 1, 1993. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Zoe.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
Henry Zoe North Slave
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I hope the Minister is not passing the buck to the new Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Programs. I hope he would advise his colleague of the concerns that were raised by Members on this side of the House with regard to the suggestions which were made, particularly for this program. It is a very popular program in the smaller communities. Every community, that I know of, has taken advantage of this program. It is quite popular. I hope the Minister will convey this to the Minister of Education.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, the Minister of Education has been in this House a long time and has paid attention to the debates which have gone on. I will impress upon him one more time the importance that Members attach to the STEP program. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Member for Inuvik.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
Fred Koe Inuvik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Business development is a fairly large section, it encompasses small business, renewable resource sectors and arts and crafts. I have a few issues to raise under each. In terms of renewable resource sectors, what is the department doing in terms of coordinating activities and projects with other departments in this government?
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Mr. Minister.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
John Pollard Hay River
Mr. Chairman, the task is natural resources, and it includes fisheries, wildlife, harvesting, forestry, agriculture and Arctic foods. We also administer the fish freight industry support program; coordination with EDA, Agriculture Canada and other federal agencies; Renewable Resources, because we do cross over into their area at times, and Alberta Agriculture, with the meat inspection people from the federal government. We work with Forestry Canada and, of course, with all the groups in the Northwest Territories who are interested in harvesting or making use of some of the natural resources in the Northwest Territories. So, it does play a role. Recently, the development corporation has become quite involved through its ventures in many of these areas. There is another role that we play in making arrangements with the development corporation on who is going to do what in each particular area to make sure that we are not duplicating each other's efforts. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 17: Appropriation Act, No. 2, 1993-94
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 624
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Koe.