Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed the Proposed Amalgamation. It is our feeling that since 1991 the government has already undergone numerous structural changes, including amalgamation, privatization, and decentralization. There also is a vigorous deficit management plan in place which has caused major upheaval for the staff and as well uncertainty. We believe that there is a need to provide some stability to allow the staff and the public to absorb and implement the many changes that have been introduced.
This would also benefit the private sector, which has been affected, by decreased government and individual spending. Additionally, it is clear from the responses to the consultation that the department did and the experiences of individual Members that there is not strong support for this proposal. It is clear that the public and the staff would rather see disruption of current services kept to a minimum. Mr. Chairman, the Government House Leaders clearly indicated that the Deficit Management Plan for 1997/98 is not dependent on this amalgamation. Also, there may be opportunities to reduce duplication among the three departments in terms of program operations, without amalgamation. For example, there may be a way to coordinate a tendering process without needing to amalgamate. They could also coordinate community level training, They could also coordinate the efforts of the staff working on community empowerment in each of these departments.
Many initiatives have already placed a tremendous workload on the Assembly, the Cabinet, and the staff. In the last year, we have begun a number of initiatives which span many departments, such as income reform and user say/user pay. There is also the fast approaching reality of division, which is less than 800 days away now. We feel the government needs to focus its energies and resources on a longer, as smooth a translation in 1999 as possible. The committee feels that in the future, the new governments of Nunavut and the western territory may wish to consider such an amalgamation. However, at this point, we believe that the Cabinet and government departments are better to focus their and our energy on the many other initiatives facing us over the next two years. Thank you.