Agreed. Does the committee agree that the Department of the Executive is concluded?

I would like to take a second to say thank you, Mr. Minister, Ms. Snider and Mr. Bird. Thank you for your attendance. Thank you, committee. We will just give the Minister and his witnesses a couple of seconds to pack up.

Thank you, committee. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Allen.

Does the committee agree?

I will have a show of hands, those in agreement? Those opposed to reviewing the Legislative Assembly this evening, raise your hand. Those opposed? Six to two. I see we are going to proceed with the Legislative Assembly review this evening. We will now take a supper break and resume this at approximately quarter to seven. Thank you.

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I will call the committee back to order. At this time, I would like to call on the Honourable David Krutko to make his opening remarks.

Madam Chair, colleagues, I am pleased to present the 2004-05 main estimates for the Legislative Assembly on behalf of your Board of Management.

The proposed operating expenses for the Legislative Assembly in 2004-05 are $14.963 million. This represents an increase of just over three percent over the previous year's operating expenses. The draft main estimates also include a capital item of $215,000 for upgrade and replacement of the camera and sound systems for this Chamber.

Madam Chair, the first full year in the term of a new Legislative Assembly is always unique in terms of budgeting. This is partly because it is followed by the last year of the previous Assembly's term. Because of the election period, last year was only a partial year for budget purposes. The estimates for 2004-05 include a return to full year budgeting for the Assembly and the sunset of a number of election and transition-related expenses.

Last year, a number of special committees established by the 14th Legislative Assembly also completed their respective mandates, namely the special committees on self-government and the sunset clause, official languages and non-tax-based communities.

The sunsetting of funding for these special committees combined with the resulting changes to the mandate of the Office of the Languages Commissioner have allowed the Assembly to reduce its non-discretionary travel costs by approximately $175,000 or 46 percent compared to 2002-03 levels. This reduction is consistent with the reductions other government departments are making to their travel budgets.

Madam Chair, in addition to the reductions noted above, the Legislative Assembly's estimates include a number of additional cost-savings measures. Most notably, as a result of the work of the Special Committee on the Review of Official Languages, the reduced role and mandate of the Commissioner of Official Languages will result in a reduction of the budget for that office by $150,000 per year. There is a $100,000 reduction that has been transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to fund the operation of two new language boards established by the 14th Legislative Assembly. Additionally, the elimination of the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight's coordinator position will reduce that committee's budget by approximately $50,000.

It is important to note that the appropriations of the Legislative Assembly provide funding to a number of statutory officers of the Assembly. As in past years, these include the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Commissioner, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Languages Commissioner. In 2004-05, we will see the establishment and implementation of two additional statutory bodies, the Human Rights Commission and the Equal Pay Commissioner. The implementation of the NWT Human Rights Act this summer will be an historic and much anticipated event. The Legislative Assembly's appropriation for this year includes annual contribution to the Human Rights Commission in the amount of $630,000. This contribution will allow the commissioner to fulfill the mandate at arm's length from the Legislative Assembly. Similarly, $175,000 in new funding is also included to fund the operation of the Equal Pay Commissioner.

In terms of forced growth expenditures, the Legislative Assembly is subject to the same inflationary pressures as other government departments. There is $145,000 in additional funding required this year to cover negotiated increases to compensation and benefits. In addition, the cost of providing Hansard services to the Assembly will increase by $75,000 as a result of more active standing committee schedules.

Earlier this month, the Board of Management adopted a cultural enhancement strategy for the Legislative Assembly. This strategy was initiated by the 14th Legislative Assembly in an effort to make the Legislative Assembly more reflective of all the cultures and traditions of the Northwest Territories. The total cost of implementing this strategy over 10 years is $1 million. In recognition of the current fiscal reality, only $20,000 has been allocated to this initiative for 2004-05. At the very least, this funding will allow us to start down the road of enhancing the cultural richness of this important institution.

Mr. Chair, the current Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly has only been in place for approximately four months. In that short amount of time, however, I, as Chair of the board, have witnessed a real commitment to both providing effective and responsive service to Members and the public at large while at the same time exercising fiscal responsibilities and prudence. The estimates before you today provide the financial and human resource necessary to meet the needs of the Legislative Assembly and allow it to carry out its essential mandate.

On behalf of the Board of Management, I look forward to any comments or questions you may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At this time, would you like to bring in any witnesses?

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Does the committee agree?

Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort in the witnesses.

For the record, Mr. Speaker, would you please introduce your witnesses?

To my left, I have Myles Moreside, director of corporate services; and, to my right, I have the Clerk of the House.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. General comments. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't have general comments, per se, but I do want to ask our new Speaker on some of the things I was talking about in the last Assembly. I remember at the end of the last Assembly in the late hours here as the former Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Hamilton, was ready to retire I raised questions about the fact that it was good timing as we were going through a big renewal because Mr. Hamilton was here for so long and provided great service. I did raise a question about what kind of a succession plan the Legislative Assembly has in terms of balancing out the representation of the Clerk's office more, so that we have more aboriginal and women representation in table officers and the Clerk's office. I don't mean to in any way lessen the value of the incumbents. I value the service we get from them, but I am talking about the long-term view. I believe when people turn on the TV it matters what they see and how we reflect to the rest of the NWT. I do believe the former Speaker made a commitment to address that issue. I know that this is an issue that Mr. Speaker was very strong about and worked on in his life as an MLA.

I would like to ask the Speaker about whether or not he's had a chance to address his mind to some of these issues and what he sees in what he can do in his life as a Speaker to improve the situation. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With regard to the succession plan that Ms. Lee is talking about, the previous Board of Management directed the Clerk to present the document to the Board of Management within six months of the establishment of the 15th Assembly. So the Clerk will be presenting such a document within the next six months to the Board of Management for us to review. We are working to get that item concluded and also have a document presented to the Board of Management for us to look at to see where we are going in the next term of this Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank you for that answer. I would look forward to hearing more about that from the Board of Management whenever they are ready to present to us. I do appreciate the work that the Board of Management does. It is very tough work, but I know they are working very hard at it.

Mr. Chairman, I have another question on the second paragraph of the opening statement of the Speaker. It is with regard to the budget item for upgrading and replacing the camera and sound system...I have a question not specifically on that, but in terms of the lighting we have in this building. I don't know what sort of work we have done the last one or two years, not inside but outside. In times of budget restraint and budget cuts that we are experiencing the fact that this building is lit up 24 hours a day like a beacon of hope...Beacon of hope. I thought it was beacon of oak. In all seriousness, people have commented to me about how bright this building is to the sky and all night long. I would like to get another explanation from the department and the Speaker about what made it necessary for us to have that work done and why is it important for the whole building to be lit up 24 hours a day during the winter days. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

With regard to the lighting on the exterior of the building, that is part of the security upgrading that took place in the previous Assembly to the tune of $280,000 to improve the lighting on the exterior of the building, so the security people could see what is happening on the outside of the building. I think that was one of the reasons that they have the system in place. The lights do operate on a sensor that allows them to go off when twilight reaches a certain level and when it starts getting dark. So it isn't on 24 hours a day. It is on for those periods of time. It was implemented as part of the security measures like most legislatures across the country and also what has happened with regard to security in general because of 9/11. We, as a legislature, are not immune to that. We do have to take some action. It was part of the security plan for the Legislative Assembly during the 14th Legislative Assembly.