Debates of Feb. 21st, 2001

This is page numbers 1125 - 1161 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 3rd 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

Members Present
Item 1: Prayer
Early Childhood Development Action Plan
Traffic Volume On The Hay River Reserve Access Road
2001 Coaching And Volunteer Symposium
Sport And Recreation Programs At The Community Level
Support For Giant Mine Pensioners
Non-insured Health Benefits
Alternative Residential Heating Sources
Inconsistent Messages From Government
Hay River District Education Authority Petition For A Divisional Council
Enhancing Partnerships With Communities
Under-subscribed Government Programs
Global Warming And Climate Change
Positive Impact Of Canadian Forces Northern Region
Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery
Hay River Reserve Access Road
Federal Bankruptcy And Insolvency Act Amendments
Alternative Residential Heating Sources
Sport And Recreation Concerns
Non-insured Health Benefits
Hay River District Education Authority Petition For A Divisional Council
Federal Funding For The Construction Of New Roads
Chief Of Staff Position
Minister's Advisory Committee On Personal Income Tax
Further Return To 356-14(3): Minister's Advisory Committee On Personal Income Tax
Seniors' Fuel Subsidy
Amendment To The Rules Of The Legislative Assembly
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 21: Report Of The Committee Of The Whole
Item 23: Orders Of The Day

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Actually, the recruitment and retention policy has been in place for three years now and it is an evaluation to determine how successful and effective the various initiatives within that area have been.

It is not a review. It is an evaluation process. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The distinction between the evaluation review all lead to the Minister. Could the Minister indicate who is doing this comprehensive evaluation and what are the areas of concern, or is this being done just as part of good government? Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this work, when it commences, I am pleased to report to the Member, will be contracted out to a northern contractor. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Then could the Minister indicate, or is it known, who that contractor will be and is this a public tender or is that a sole-source? Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1156

The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not have that information at this point in time, but I will commit to keep the Members apprised of what kind of dollars and the process that we will undertake to receive that information.

Mrs. Ballantyne informs me that a part of that is also a survey, which is being conducted on our behalf by the Northwest Territories Registered Nurses Association. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1156

The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Chairman, on the issue of recruitment and retention as well, the information that was given to us indicates that Stanton is considered a public service board, as are Deh Cho, Inuvik, Fort Smith, Yellowknife and the Dogrib. Non-public service boards are Hay River, Deline and Lutselk'e.

To be clear, is that a distinction between government employees and non-government employees?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you. The three boards, Hay River, Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution, are contracts with the local government or the band councils. The other boards are public service boards, which are under the Territorial Health and Hospital Insurance Services Act.

So that is the differences between them. The employees under the public service boards are government employees. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like the Minister, as well, to speak to the issue in this information that was given of information systems. Can the Minister indicate which boards are on PeopleSoft, if any?

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just the Stanton board is on PeopleSoft. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Miltenberger.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Mr. Chairman, could the Minister speak to that particular issue as it relates to this program as well? It indicates here that all board information is manually counted and reported.

Are there moves afoot to bring the department and the board information into the computer-age and the technology of the 21st century? This seems like a very cumbersome way to try to keep track of things as we looked at the Human Resource Strategy for government, for example, and all those systems.

One of the biggest departments, in one of the areas where we spend a huge amount of our budget, are sitting there with staff, spending valuable time counting things by hand. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am going to refer that question to be answered by Mr. St. Germaine. Thank you.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. St. Germaine.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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St. Germaine

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of information systems and the requirement to report information on human resources, we recognize that it is a problem with the boards in terms of the types and lack of systems that they do have and we will be assessing their needs and what the solutions would be to that, to make their ability to collect and report on human resource data more efficient. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 20: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

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The Chair

The Chair Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. St. Germaine. Mr. Miltenberger.