Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Premier.
Debates of March 5th, 2002
This is page numbers 341 - 388 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 5th 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
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 366
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 366
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Because of the Caucus meeting in Hay River, where virtually every Member mentioned the importance of the environment and highlighting that particular issue, it became clear to us that the idea of setting up a Ministry or Department of Energy may not be in line with the political views of Caucus, from what we heard.
Following that, we met again in January and decided to ask Minister Antoine if he would also look at making a paper and having discussions with Mr. Handley and come forward to Cabinet with it.
It became clear that we did not have time to discuss it before the session. I asked Cabinet to give it the proper attention that it deserves. During the session, there was not enough time for the attention that should be paid to it available, so we agreed that following this session, when the Ministers come forward, we will take a day or two to have that discussion. Thank you.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 366
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 366
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to follow up on the line of questioning Mr. Roland was just pursuing with the Premier. I am a little bit distressed that the Premier keeps talking about a Caucus meeting. I thought that it was a general practice that what happened in Caucus was kept in Caucus and it was not something that came out on the floor of the House.
Also, Caucus was not be to a decision-making place. In other words, we would use the committees and the official parts of this Assembly, not the unofficial parts of the Assembly, for decision-making.
I am troubled that he seems to think that some direction was provided that the government should respond to at Caucus, because that would not be appropriate.
Having said that, I would also like to say that from my recollection -- after having said we should not be talking about Caucus -- it was one of the things that I brought up at Caucus, that Towards a Better Tomorrow did not appear to provide the same emphasis on the environment that it did on economic development. What I suggested was that we needed a better balance. I did not say that one should have a priority over the other.
I am a little concerned that the Premier is also now saying that there is a priority here. I think if anything, I was trying to point out that a Caucus document maybe needed to have some better balance in it. That was what I was speaking to -- a document that was the property of Caucus.
If we are talking about direction to government, I am not sure that it is appropriate that that sort of direction be taken from Caucus, which is not an official part of this House and does not have official records or records of proceeding, whereas our committees do.
Just a comment about the process and the Premier, where he is taking direction from. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair Paul Delorey
Thank you, Mr. Dent. I did not hear a question there. Do you want to respond, Mr. Premier?
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 366
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Well, a meeting happened and some discussions took place. I took notes. I thought some indicators were given to us on where we should go from there. We have had some follow-up discussions.
Caucus meetings happen. I am not quite sure of where to go from there. If I should be out of bounds for referring to them, then I stand corrected. I will not mention them anymore. They do not make decisions. No decisions they make should be referenced. I was not clear on that.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Charles Dent Frame Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Part of my point was that we do have a process for making decisions, and that is that once the government has decided on a course of action, they make a proposal through the committees to this Legislative Assembly.
If the Premier and Cabinet have decided on a course of action they recommend, I have no doubt that either the chair of GED or whatever committee is appropriate would be happy to work out a meeting schedule with the Premier to discuss that.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We do work with the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, as well as the other committees of the Legislature. It is true. That is where the accountability starts and it is the official bodies that we work with. I agree with the Member.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, are we on page 2-19 or 2-18?
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have a question regarding 2-18 under Cabinet Secretariat, corporate human resource services, where the Executive is responsible for developing and monitoring the government's recruiting policy, Affirmative Action Policy and other government-wide human resource policies; provides specialist training and advice to government departments, boards and agencies on human resource planning and staff development; and supports internal communication processes.
It is an area with a wide degree of responsibility, especially with our Affirmative Action Policy of this government, to try and get a representative work force, yet we see, except for a few departments, that the affirmative action candidates are a lot lower within the departments and are not representative of the population.
I would like to ask the Minister if all departments work from the same song sheet? By that, I mean is there one interpretation of the Affirmative Action Policy used by all departments consistently? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Stephen Kakfwi Sahtu
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The answer is yes. It is one of the reasons why the Department of the Executive has to take a lead in initiatives like this, to provide overall coordination and consistency in the approach that we take to achieving the objectives of the goals of the policies. Thank you.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if the interpretation of the policy is not the problem, then it must be at the departmental level because we are seeing a great discrepancy between one department over another. Take the Housing Corporation, for example, where the affirmative action representatives outnumber those of the non-affirmative action area. The Department of Transportation has a lower number; FMBS has an even lower number.
Why is there such a discrepancy between the different departments in representative government if the Affirmative Action Policy is interpreted equally by all departments, boards and agencies? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Snider
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess we are in agreement with Mr. Nitah that there is room for much improvement in terms of how the human resource policies of the government are applied. What we did is we undertook an overall human resource management study. We are in the process now of implementing a number of recommendations of that study. We are trying to enhance our policy base and to make sure the interpretation of the policy within each one of the departments is consistent and actively implemented. We are trying to strengthen our human resource community. That means we are providing training and workshops with our human resource managers to make sure they are actually applying the policies in a consistent and effective way.
We are trying to enhance our human resource practices, again for the same reasons, to make sure the interpretation is similar across the government. We are working in partnership with people, both inside and outside of the government. We are trying to strengthen our reporting and our accountability.
We have found in the past that we have not only not held people accountable the way they should have been, but we have not been able to report on our results the way we should. We are trying to improve in that area. We think the initiatives we put in place will actually improve the things you have identified as being problem areas.
We are also moving from an affirmative action to more of an employment equity approach, which would actually look at areas where we are not doing well in terms of applying the Affirmative Action Policy and providing support and enhancement in those areas to make sure our work is better.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
March 5th, 2002
Page 367
Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am happy to hear that there are some motions in motion, some equal employment representative government initiative by the department is encouraging. I would like to see that happen as soon as possible.
If we are going to look at equitable distribution of employees that is representative of this government, would they also look at geographical locations as a means for equitable distribution of government resources and employees? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Environmental Protection
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 367