Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Steen.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Dent.

Thank you. The question has been taken as notice. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister responsible for Personnel. Now that the staffing function has been removed from the Personnel Secretariat, I would like to ask the Minister how the government departments will be hiring new employees. Will they be using existing resources to manage their staffing needs, or have we been cutting the Department of Personnel only to have new positions popping up elsewhere in the departments? For instance, one of the envelopes seems to have created a new position for handling the personnel functions within their envelope. I would like to know if the departments are supposed to be using existing resources to manage their staffing needs.

Minister of Personnel, Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The departments are to use existing resources within the departments that they had there already, to handle the staffing and the personnel function within their departments. Thank you.

Question period is over now. Item 7, written questions. Item 8, returns to written questions. Item 9, replies to opening address. Item 10, replies to Budget Address. Item 11, petitions. The next item would be item 12, but, before that, we'll take a 15-minute break.

--- SHORT RECESS

The House will come back to order. We're on item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Erasmus.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on its review of the 1996-97 main estimates and departmental business plans. I would like to begin with an overview of the process.

Since being elected in mid-October of 1995, Members of the Legislative Assembly have been developing a new and more effective way of conducting business. An important part of this new approach is the new standing committee structure and the relationships which have developed between those committees and the Ministers and departments. The committee structure allows Members to approach a department holistically, rather than looking only at finances or legislation. Although there is always a need to refine a new system to make it better, committee Members are pleased with how the committee system supports a true consensus approach to government. The efforts of Ministers to facilitate the sharing of information and ideas is appreciated, and Members hope the cooperative relationships developed during the business plan/main estimates review will continue.

Given the difficult financial problems facing the government, the first order of business was to review departmental three-year business plans. From January 19th to the 29th, the standing committees on Social Programs, Infrastructure, Government Operations and Resource Management and Development met to review these initial plans. Over a 10 day period, committee Members analyzed the documents that were provided, held briefings with Ministers and provided the government with recommendations on how these plans could be improved.

During the first three weeks, the government revised the plans and incorporated the recommendations from the standing committees. On February 22nd, the business plans were resubmitted for committee review. From February 23rd to 28th, standing committee Members met, once again, with Ministers and departmental officials to revisit the draft plans. On February 29th, the chairmen from each committee delivered reports to the Standing Committee on Government Operations. These reports outlined additional recommendations as well as areas where each committee felt additional information was required.

During the second week in April, the government submitted final copies of the departmental multi-year business plans and the 1996-97 main estimates to the committees. Standing committees reviewed these final versions from April 17th to 25th, and developed final reports.

Normally, the budget process would begin in the fall and be finalized during the spring months. However, with a fall election, Members and government departments were forced to review both multi-year plans and budgets far later than usual, resulting in the need for an interim appropriation for the first few months of this fiscal year. This constraining factor did not allow Members to review, in detail, all of the programs and issues of concerned within each department. Members look forward to the fall of 1996, when the review of the 1997-98 budget begins. Members expect a more detailed review of both multi-year plans and departmental budgets at that time.

The standing committees, along with the Cabinet, have had to focus all of their energies over the past four months on dealing with the dire financial situation we are in. The committees now look forward to moving beyond dealing with the crisis and into planning for the future.

Hear! Hear!

The Assembly has released a statement of its priorities. The work of the standing committees will now focus on how we achieve those objectives together.

General Comments

Many of the departments proposed very ambitious reduction strategies in their business plans. These strategies often have short time frames and the actions in one program area have implications for other programs. Departments will have to work hard to meet all of the deadlines proposed as part of the deficit management activities. Given the size of the deficit, the government cannot afford slippage from the budgets proposed by departments. All standing committees intend to review the government's quarterly variance reports to ensure that the targets are being met.

In order to provide thoughtful comment and questioning on a business plan or budget, Members need time to read and review the material provided. The committees recognize the extraordinary circumstances for the budget and business plan review this year contributed to documents often being provided at the last minute. However, in future reviews, the standing committees will expect material to be provided in advance of meetings to allow Members sufficient reading time.

The standing committees also look forward to a standard presentation of information in next year's business plans and budgets. The differences in how departments provided material and in the types of material provided made it difficult for the committees to do their work. These differences also meant there were many requests for information to ensure the committees had consistent background in making decisions.

Although standing committees were reviewing the budgets of the government, they were also very concerned about the implications of division for this government. In future business plans and budgets, the departments will be expected to comment on preparations for division.

A concern which arose in more than one committee was with the systems in place to assist departments and regions in carrying out the personnel/staffing function with the dismantling of the Personnel department. In all cases where the government is privatizing, decentralizing, contracting or changing the way a service is delivered, standing committees will be watching for two key elements in these plans: Will the new method of service delivery cost the same or less? Are the functions covered; is someone actually providing the service that used to be provided?

scholarships set consistent eligibility criteria -- possibly a five year residency -- and establish requirements for scholarship recipients to return to the North once they have finished.

Mr. Speaker, this concludes the general comments of the Standing Committee on Government Operations. Details on the departments and operations reviewed by the committee will be given during the review of the main estimates in Committee of the Whole.

Motion To Receive Committee Report 1-13(3) And Move To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

Mr. Speaker, as this concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the review of the 1996-97 main estimates be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Your motion is in order.

Question.

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

--- Carried

Mr. Erasmus.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and have Committee Report 1-13(3) of the Standing Committee on Government Operations moved into Committee of the Whole today.

Thank you. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4). Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent. Committee Report 1-13(3) will be put into Committee of the Whole for today. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On behalf of the Members of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, I am pleased to provide our report on the review of the 1996-97 main estimates and departmental business plans.

Introduction

A recurring theme throughout the business plans of the departments in this envelope was one of devolution. Where the Government of the Northwest Territories used to be the most important provider of public services in the NWT, the trend now is towards the government being the coordinator of the delivery of those services. Transferring powers and programs to communities, privatizing services formerly provided by government, and developing user-pay systems for services still provided by government are all part of a new direction for the government.

Committee Members appreciated that they have had a degree of input into the development of the main estimates. Through the business plan review process, recommendations by the ordinary Members who sit on the standing committees have been incorporated into the business plans and budgets of all government departments. Given the critical impact of the measures taken in this budget, however, committee Members would like to see the process expanded to allow for public input during the review. Cuts had to be made; however, all Members would appreciate hearing now from our constituents where they would suggest further savings and reductions should occur.

The presentation of business plans and budget documents concerned committee Members. Documents were often delivered very late to Members, sometimes only as meetings with the relevant department were beginning. Documents were also subject to frequent changes, leading to some confusion. Members appreciate that the process was rushed due to the timing of the 1995 election, and that the novelty of this process was a factor in the ability of staff to produce timely documents. However, for the fall review of the 1997-98 business plans and budget, Members would like to see the following improvements:

- documents to be provided to Members well in advance of meetings, preferably a week or more;

- more consistent format among departmental business plans;

- when documents are updated, supplying only changed pages to replace, rather than wasting large amounts of paper on printing completely new versions;

- highlighting changes between updates; for example, red lining or shading.

Mr. Speaker, this concludes the general comments of the standing committee. During the review of the main estimates in Committee of the Whole, the committee will be making a detailed report on each department in the infrastructure envelope.

Motion To Receive Committee Report 2-13(3) And Move To Committee Of The Whole, Carried

That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure. Therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that the report of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure on the review of the 1996-97 main estimates, be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Your motion is in order. To the motion.

Question.

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

--- Carried.

Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and have Committee Report 2-13(3) of the Standing Committee on Infrastructure moved into Committee of the Whole for today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.