Thank you. Mr. O'Brien.
Debates of Nov. 9th, 1998
This is page numbers 309 - 340 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 331
The Chair John Ningark
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 331
Kevin O'Brien Kivallivik
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, not to belabour the point, Mr. Todd, but I am just curious as to when these monies became available that we are now going to put into play, and my concern would be that it may be too little, too late, given the fact that, especially for the Nunavut MLAs, we are on the last days of our term. I am concerned as to the full impact that the eastern nursing stations, the full benefit that they will get.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 331
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Todd.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 331
John Todd Keewatin Central
Well, the answer to the first question is that September was when we knew what our fiscal position was. The answer to the second question about Nunavut is that this money will be proportioned out and there will be an
ongoing program, subject to the new Assembly recognizing it will be part and parcel of the business plans, and it will be proportionately divided up as we have done with everything else. As Mr. Voytilla pointed out, it will be up to the new Nunavut government as to how much they want to spend, but we are allocating this money right now, it is territorial money, and we will move as quickly as we can to meet the difficult requirements that are currently in place with respect to nurses.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Do we not wish to approve Administration? Not previously authorized, $2.386 million. Mr. Ootes.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Jake Ootes Yellowknife Centre
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Mr. O'Brien had a point and that is the fact that back in 1993 a study was done on retention of nurses, and to my understanding, it had many, many recommendations in it. However, apparently it was never adopted. The report was never implemented, and I guess I agree with the need for this money, certainly it is needed; however, at this particular point in time I would like to insure that some processes be established.
I do not hear and perhaps I am misunderstanding, but I certainly did not read very well that there is a formal monitoring and evaluation program in place to ensure the procedures, et cetera, of the department are adhered to, that there is consistency of programs from board to board, and consistency of terminology, standards, and so forth. I just do not hear that, and I would like to have assurance of the Minister that they will address that particular area and ensure there is a unit at headquarters here, an individual, or whoever, that is there as, whatever you may call it, I think it was an advisor, a policy advisor, or an evaluation advisor, that was advertised for, that it is going to be the role of the individual to ensure those recommendations are followed through with from the evaluation and monitoring to the advisor. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Todd.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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John Todd Keewatin Central
Yes, you have our assurances, both myself as the Finance Minister and Mr. Ng, who has the responsibility for the program that, in fact, will take place. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Yes, once we approve the appropriated money. Administration. Not previously authorized, $2.386 million. Do we agree?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you very much. Total department, in this case, Health and Social Services, operations and maintenance, $2.386 million. Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. On page 7, Education, Culture and Employment. Operations and maintenance, culture and careers, not previously authorized, $399,000. Agreed?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you, colleagues. Total department is $399,000. Agreed?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Now we move on to page 8, Municipal and Community Affairs, capital, community operations, special warrants, $310,000. Yes, I have Mr. Krutko.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in regard to this particular matter, I have some real difficulties with it because of the amounts that this project was originally, it was budgeted for $490,000, at which it was tendered, and the tender came in at $795,000. Mr. Chairman, I think that is unacceptable, especially in light of the particular project that I was trying to get in my riding, which was over by $3,500, it was rejected and put back out to public tender. Mr. Chairman, I would like to know exactly why was this project allowed to come in so much over budget, and yet still succeeded, while every other riding and community in the territories is restricted by financial regulations criteria, that we are not allowed to have these expenditures, yet in this case we are talking about almost $300,000.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. The honourable Minister, Mr. Todd.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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John Todd Keewatin Central
I do not want to get into an argument with my honourable colleague, but his statement is inaccurate, and if he checks Hansard he will find it is inaccurate. I think what I need to explain to him, and I will explain why it is inaccurate, and not everybody does not get to renegotiate tenders. The reality is we do that all the time. The total estimated budget for this one, and I apologized to my colleagues earlier today that I did not have the notes, as much as I should have. It was a joint project between Health and Social Services and MACA, with respect to an assembly building, a wellness centre, the total budget was originally $800,000 not $400,000 as I indicated earlier, and I apologize again.
A public tender process was followed. The low bid was $1.147 million, they negotiated the thing down, which means they must have taken some work out, the final contract awarded was $1.066 million, which is roughly about $266,000 over the original budget. This project was completed in one year, versus two years, and the reason why we had a special warrant is because the contractor had completed the work and we needed to approve the final payment of the building. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Krutko.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 332
David Krutko Mackenzie Delta
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to this particular matter and the amounts, the point I am trying to make is this is way over and above the amounts that was allocated for this particular project, yet in all other projects we have to follow different Public Works criteria in regard to the population, the enrolment figures of the community, what the
needs are. In a lot of communities we would like larger gymnasiums, and a large community complex, but because there is a formula in place which restricts us from getting these large facilities based on criteria that is used by Public Works. I would like to ask the Minister, was there such criteria used in regard to this particular project?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Todd.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
John Todd Keewatin Central
It is important to point out to my colleague, again, I do not want to get into an argument with him, but this project met all the criteria that is set under MACA and under Health and Social Services with respect to their basic needs and requirements under the criteria set in government. The issue of projects coming over budget, I think it would be fair to say, and I do not have the detail here today, that there was a concern expressed by many people, including the Minister of Public Works, earlier in the year, that a number of the projects, capital projects, were all coming in over budget. I believe that the Minister spoke to it in previous sessions, and DPW recognized that, and did a review as to why that was the case. There were a number of reasons why that was the case, and I can certainly outline them to you, if you so wish, but it is important to point out that this project met all the criteria set in keeping with the government policies and standards for MACA and Health. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 333
The Chair John Ningark
Thank you. Mr. Krutko.