Executive, capital investment expenditure, Financial Management Board Secretariat, directorate, special warrant, $180,000.
Debates of Oct. 8th, 2003
This is page numbers 1299 - 1354 of the Hansard for the 14th 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
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
October 8th, 2003
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Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It seems to be a common occurrence within our government. It always seems to be in the area of IT and once again we are seeing a server and patch management took software for the Technology Service Centre. Are we going to continue to see this? We know again it was put through a business plan process and amounts were allocated. Here we are six months into the fiscal year and we are going in for extra funding. So do we find something grossly out of sync or more expensive? Again, it just seems to be a growth that has energy and grows on its own. Are we going to see something soon that would stick to the plans that we put forward or are we going to continue to see growth throughout the year? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, there is a multi-year plan and I believe in the long run, we do, on average, stick to it. We do run into situations though where unexpected circumstances cause us to need particular pieces of software or hardware. In this case, the main reason for this expenditure for the server patch management tools was because of the unexpected increase in viruses that we have been experiencing over the last several months. So this one is something that couldn't have been anticipated. Mr. Chairman, on average, generally, we are staying within our multi-year plan in this area. Thank you.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With these additional resources we're putting to the TSC are we going to see contractors in the smaller centres squeezed out of business as this section gears up, or are we going to see them using the private sector to try and help deal with the situations that we find ourselves in from time to time? Thank you.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1328
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, we're honouring all existing contracts we have with providers and we are looking at ways to maximize the services that the local and community providers can give us. This should not result in the local providers being squeezed out. They'll have to, of course, bid on tenders and so on as usual and hopefully they'll be successful. Thank you.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Will those tenders be broken down so that some of those bodies out there can bid on this regionally? My concern is, for example, out of Inuvik, if we have problems with computers from a government office and there's nobody that can fix them locally or if there's a contractor from a different community that either someone's got to be flown in at an extra expense or equipment be sent out for repairs. We know the problems with doing both of those. What are we considering here? It seems that since the TSC has come in we've been grouping either purchases and things of that nature. The last 10 tenders that went out were won by three companies in Yellowknife and none were won from outside businesses. Are we going to be keeping that in mind as we look at "Towards a Better Tomorrow?" Thank you.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Voytilla
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just for clarity, the TSC does not do the actual bulk purchasing, that's done through Public Works and Services, but certainly the intent is to continue to put those tenders out in the North and open them up for bid by all businesses serving the Northwest Territories. So there's no intention to try and structure our tenders on hardware acquisition in any way that would prevent local and northern suppliers from successfully bidding.
With respect to the TSC and the services, the TSC is honouring, as the Minister pointed out, all existing service arrangements with existing service providers in the regions and we are looking and actively exploring with those service providers ways to integrate them and use them in the provision of services in the regions and communities. One of the key objectives of the TSC is to get a critical mass of service in each region so that, in fact, there is continuity of service and there is more coverage so people can, in fact, get effective service. In some cases where that can be or is being provided by the private sector we'll continue to pursue that approach. Where we can, by pooling our resources in the region, get that continuity and that extended service coverage in place, then we'll be doing that.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a comment here on the response. I still have a concern that although all northern companies across the North will be able to bid on things, I mean, you can bid on it, but again, if it's all geared towards largest provider then we know that by bulk volume you can usually get in a better tender because the smaller communities or businesses would have difficulty matching that. Hopefully, as we go through this process we're always keeping in mind that right now, previous governments have seen fit to break things down, not to go back to the old Government Services way of doing business where everything was shipped out to communities and there was no local business or suppliers. Hopefully we're not going to go in that direction. We do have to look at equities in how we do things, but it is good to hear that it will honour existing contracts where it makes sense and they will continue to use the private sector to help deliver the service side for our equipment. Thank you.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, I took that as being more of a comment, but the answer would be yes, I agree.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Financial Management Board Secretariat
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Bill 32, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2002-2003
Revert To Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 1329