Thank you, Mr. O'Brien. Mr. Antoine.
Debates of Feb. 13th, 1998
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
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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 796
Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the deputy minister consults with the client departments and determines from them if the desire is there, first of all, to continue in the existing lease and, if, there is support, then it goes ahead and he tries to negotiate a good deal. 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
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The Chair Vince Steen
Thank you, Mr. Antoine. Operations and maintenance, total operations and maintenance. Mr. 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
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John Ningark Natilikmiot
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. General comment very short on directorate. Everybody seems to be talking about the lease in question. My gathering, Mr. Chairman, is that it was partially a nonpolitical decision, the deal that was made. It is also my understanding that since the two owners of the said building are not able to be here and take part in the decision to defend your position, I think we should move along. 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
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The Chair Vince Steen
Thank you, Mr. Ningark. I hate to say it, my co-chair, but your question is on the wrong page. It is out of order. You should refer to specific leases under assessment management. I am going to have to ask if you have a specific question under directorate. Mr 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
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John Ningark Natilikmiot
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It was not a question. It was just a comment. People were talking about this particular issue, and I just pulled into that discussion. 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
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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. In regard to notification to the different departments, who do you notify? Do you notify the Minister? Do you notify the deputy minister when these notifications are given that you are going to require some purchase of an item or a lease? Whom do you notify? Is it the Minister or the deputy minister?
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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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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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
The practice is that the deputy minister of Public Works contacts the deputy minister of the client department. If it is in the case of leases, extensions, office rent and so forth, it is a deputy minister to a deputy minister. 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
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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. At what time does the Minister get involved in saying exactly where he wants his offices? You talk about this plan or whatever you have for developing offices. You mentioned using the Lahm Ridge Tower where you have two departments, Transportation and, I believe you said, Education. I believe Education is in the Northern United from the breakdown you had. The decision is to put everybody in one location, at what time does the Minister make the final decision that he wants his departments over in block A versus being in block B? When does the Minister make that decision through Public Works?
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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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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Jim Antoine Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to ask the deputy minister to provide some details.
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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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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Lovely
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The provision of office space and management of the office space inventory is handled by the Department of Public Works and Services as an administrative process. We allocated space, and we pay for the leases out of the budget that we have in our asset management activity. The departments are consulted and the deputy ministers are consulted with regard to whether they are satisfied with their existing office space, whether changes are required, and they are asked with regard to their preferences. It is not always possible to satisfy the deputy ministers because of the availability of space, the cost associated with it and those kinds of things. To the best of our ability, we try to satisfy them that the space we are providing does satisfy their needs. At no time do we involve the Minister of the client department because the deputy minister, to use the example in Education, is mandated to determine how he deals with his counterparts in the service departments such as Public Works to satisfy his administrative needs. We do not involve the Ministers in administrative matters. We go to them when we need direction on policy issues. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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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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. In regard to Mr. Lovely's comments earlier, that he felt a real unease in having to make the decision in regard to the Lahm Ridge Tower. In making that decision, did you advise any other people within your department, your superintendents or, through some sort of a committee, other deputy ministers to see knowingly that this was going to be a controversial issue that you try to get some legal advice or you got advice from other deputy ministers on this matter?
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 797
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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Lovely
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In this particular case, both deputy ministers of the client departments were consulted. We did get legal advice on our ability to extend the existing lease without going out to competition. As you are aware, we tabled some information in the House about other leases that have been extended. We needed an overall legal opinion on our ability to do that within the existing leases. I also talked with all deputy ministers about how we should deal with all their office space requirements in Yellowknife. I asked for their advice. They finally agreed in July, 1997, in terms of what we would recommend to Cabinet. It is a very consultative process before we enter into these kinds of arrangements and when we decide to extend a lease for a significant period of time. It is not done without a lot of consideration. It was not a snap decision. I had the benefit of advice from a variety of colleagues before the decision was made.
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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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. In regard to expenditures of deputy ministers and the department, the Financial Administration Act which is still in place, my understanding is there was a limit on expenditures of $500,000, and you had to get approval to spend anything beyond that. Can the Minister clarify in this case, why the Financial Administration Act was not used on this particular matter?
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 Vince Steen
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Are you suggesting approval of $500,000 at one time or $500,000? 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. In regard to the Financial Administration Act that we implemented because of the deficit, there are limits to how the government can spend money, in which there has to be an approval process, over and above that amount, which is usually Cabinet making a decision. I would like to know, why was that not practiced when the act is still in place in regard to this government? Did they follow the
Financial Administration Act in making these decisions?
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 798