Thank you. I would like to call the committee to order.
Item 19, consideration in committee of the whole of bills and other matters, we have two items: consideration of Mid-Term Review, Tabled Document 1-13(5) Mid-Term Review Documents. We are dealing with two items. At this time I would like to make an opening remark.
The item under consideration is the mid-term review of the 13th Legislative Assembly. As Members are aware, the following motion was passed in the territorial leadership committee on Monday, November 29, 1995, and I quote:
"That the territorial leadership committee agrees that after two years there shall be a mid-term review where the Premier and Members of Cabinet shall report to and be accountable to Members of the Legislature on progress to date and plans for the remainder of the term of the 13th Legislative Assembly".
The process for this mid-term review was approved by all Members of the Legislative Assembly and has been circulated. I will briefly summarize the process and purpose of the review for the benefit of our interested viewers and constituents.
As noted in the motion two years ago, the main purpose of this review is to examine the progress of the Legislative Assembly since our term began and to critically assess our current direction and plans for the remainder of the 13th Assembly.
Efforts in committee of the whole today and tomorrow will therefore focus on our successes in terms of achieving the goals we had set and identifying those areas where we may have fallen short or not succeeded to the extent we could have.
The purpose of any review is to look back to critically evaluate past performance in an effort to define any corrective actions necessary to meet future needs. Therefore, the objective of this review, as Members have agreed, is to determine if, and to what extent, this Legislature needs to refocus its efforts in specific areas and revise or refine its direction and goals for the second half of our term.
Having briefly described the nature and purpose of the review, I will now outline the process that has been agreed to. I trust this process will afford all Members the ability to make comments and to ask questions of the Executive Council.
Firstly, we have tabled and moved into committee of the whole a package entitled Mid-term Review Documents, which contains:
"Building a Foundation For the Future - the Northwest Territories Agenda for Change"; Principles for Division; and A Chronological Summary of Hansard Excerpts Dealing with the Development of the Government's Agenda.
Your chairpersons for this review will be myself, along with two deputy chairs of the committee of the whole on a rotational basis.
Following my opening comments, all Members will be given the opportunity to make general comments of 10 minutes each in the order that they are recognized by the chair.
After general comments, every Minister in turn will be expected to respond to Member's questions relating to their portfolios and responsibilities. Each Member will be entitled to a make a maximum of eight questions directed to each Minister. Questions may deal with one topic or eight different topics, but every question will be counted as a question, including those seeking clarification. I will also remind Members that the question must deal with matters that would responsibly be within the present knowledge of the Minister to whom it is directed and not of a technical nature requiring a detailed response. The order of the Ministers has been previously established with the Premier being first and the other Minister determined by a ballot draw conducted by the Clerk at the Legislative Assembly.
After the Premier, the order of Ministers is as follows:
The Honourable Kelvin Ng
The Honourable John Todd
The Honourable Stephen Kakfwi
The Honourable Manitok Thompson
The Honourable Jim Antoine
The Honourable Goo Arlooktoo; and finally
The Honourable Charles Dent
At the conclusion of the questioning of Ministers, all Members, including Ministers will be provided an opportunity of not more than ten minutes each to speak to the future direction of this Legislature, which may include suggestions for the revision or refinement of goals, principles or the common agenda.
I should note as well that it has been agreed by all Members that this review will extend over a two day period. Given the time required for an adequate review it may be necessary to extend our normal sitting hours today and tomorrow in order to conclude this item within the agreed upon timeframe. As your Chair, I would suggest that today's discussions proceed at least to the halfway point of the review, which would be to complete the questioning of four of the eight Ministers. As always, however, this will be subject to the will of the committee.
Just before we get started, I would like to remind Members that, while the Chair may allow Members some latitude in the content of speeches and questions, here in committee of the whole, the rules and procedures of the Legislative Assembly shall be observed where applicable. The Chair will expect all Members to conduct themselves in a manner respectful of all their colleagues and the dignity of this House. With that, I will now open the floor to general comments of ten minutes each by all Members.