Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I’d like to discuss the 2009 June Report of the Auditor General of Canada Respecting the Contracting for Goods and Services by the Government of the Northwest Territories. The Auditor General used 40 random contracts from across three departments -- Public Works and Services, Health and Social Services, and DOT -- to develop this report.

This is a very interesting and important piece of work for this government. During the 2007-2008 fiscal year, this government spent upwards of $163 million of public funds. The government’s objectives for contracting are to acquire goods and services in a way that enhances suppliers’ access to contracts, encourages competition, reflects fairness, transparency, and accountability in the spending of public funds. Therefore, it is vitally important that contracting be carried out in accordance with policies and regulations designed to achieve those objectives.

The GNWT’s policy framework is what governs the procurement of goods and services in our Territory. The Auditor General’s review points out that we are missing a couple of key things.

Firstly, we do not have an independent dispute resolution process for suppliers. Also, we have policies and guidelines that are disbursed throughout numerous documents and sources government wide, making it very difficult for government employees to be aware of all the necessary components of the contracting process.

The Auditor General found that between 78 and 93 percent of contracts in the three departments that were examined were awarded in a fair and open manner. I would suggest that 100 percent of contracts should be our goal and anything less, as suggested by the Auditor General, should get our full attention.

The most alarming claim of the Auditor General’s report was in the administration of contracts after they were awarded. There were deficiencies or weaknesses of one sort or another in the majority of contracts that were audited. These included, for example, receiving goods or services before the contract was issued, not issuing a contract change order in accordance with GNWT policy, exceeding spending authority, and approving payments prior to obtaining required certifications. Although no one single type of error was more pervasive than any other within or across departments, one or more of

these types of errors were present in over 57 percent of the contracts that were sampled. For an organization of our size and the amount of public money we spend every year, how is it possible…

Mr. Ramsay, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

For an organization of our size and the amount of public money that we expend every year, how is it possible that in more than half of those contracts there were some serious and very serious issues with those? The sample size and the fact that it was conducted in three different departments make me believe that the serious issues raised in the Auditor General’s report run rampant throughout our government’s procurement effort. I’ll be interested in hearing how this government is going to act on these findings.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak to the plight of our dear old Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Mother Corp, I think the employees call it. Some months ago the federal government announced major funding cutbacks to the CBC; cuts which will hit the CBC hard and will impact news, drama, radio, and TV programs all across Canada.

The CBC is part of the cultural fabric of our country and it’s a service which is particularly important to Canada’s three northern territories. The CBC links us as individuals and communities to each other and to the world. The radio is often the one and only information link in our small and remote communities. For those of our residents who spend time on the land, the radio, our CBC, is their connection to news and information about their community, their Territory, and the rest of the world.

Northerners have relied on the CBC for generations and this valuable service to Northerners is in jeopardy due to the funding cuts. The northern division of CBC, the CBC North, has indicated that there will be layoffs here and that, with a smaller staff and a smaller budget, something will have to give, to quote them. Experience shows that it is northern programming that will give, and by that I mean that programs will be eliminated.

Earlier this year the Government of the Yukon passed a motion in their Assembly urging the federal government to provide sufficient resources to the CBC; resources that would keep northern

radio and television services intact; resources that would maintain the excellent high standard of service that we now have and need to keep. We can do no less, Mr. Speaker.

The CBC in the NWT, as CBC North, is an essential communication link and it cannot and should not be diminished or reduced in any way. This government, this Assembly, must urge the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to reconsider its reduction of funding for the CBC and, as a result, the reduction of our northern programming.

I ask that the Premier write to the head of the CBC, Mr. Hubert Lacroix, advising him of our concerns and demanding a reinstatement of CBC North funding to its previous levels.

I look forward to seeing a copy of the Premier’s letter very soon. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We in Nunakput would like to express our satisfaction with the progress made on construction of our all-weather access road from Tuktoyaktuk to Source 177.

---Applause

Approximately 10 kilometres of the 22-kilometre access route has been completed this winter. The work was completed in high technical standard, in an environmentally sensitive manner, safely and without any major incidents, with the greatest levels of local Inuvialuit employment and business participation. This success was achieved only through close cooperation and excellent working relationships established between the Department of Transportation, the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, local contractors, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and myself.

We believe a cooperative model used before the construction of this access road to be continued on our other highway projects within our region such as the construction of the Tuktoyaktuk-Inuvik Highway, which leads me to ask the Premier and the Minister of the Department of Transportation to clarify the government’s position with respect to the continuation of this road project. We understand the GNWT Highway Strategy and, in particular, the construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway remains a high priority for the GNWT. It considers the Mackenzie Valley Highway project among the

highest priorities in discussions for infrastructure funding for the federal government.

We have previously been informed by this government that the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is an integral component of the Mackenzie Valley Highway proposal and the completion remains an essential part of this proposal. However, at times it appears that the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is not being supported or advocated by this government at the same degree as the other NWT road construction projects. Therefore, I would like to ask the Premier and the Minister of Transportation to confirm that the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway remains an important component of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project and the GNWT Highway Strategy and will be pursued for infrastructure funding and priority basis within the GNWT Highway Strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier in the House, this spring I had the opportunity to spend some time with my family up at Old Fort Point, just 30 miles south of Tulita. Old Fort Point is a special place for my family, Mr. Speaker. It is a place where there is a real connection to my family. My mother had a cabin there and over the past number of years, before she passed away, she always went to Old Fort Point during the spring and fall times. So when I go back, it is a very spiritual place for me. It is where I connected. I am really happy that I show a lot of gratitude to my mother for bringing us there and showing us the importance of life by coming to Old Fort Point. Certainly when I go there, I certainly miss my mother when I am there, and the rest of my family.

Mr. Speaker, in these times when I get back to Old Fort Point, I sometimes sit there and wonder and look at things that I need to be grateful for, grateful for some of the things that are happening in the Northwest Territories. One of the things I really look at are the single parents. This year students are going to be graduating from high school, post-secondary school, colleges, certificate institutions, all kinds of programs that are happening in the Northwest Territories and in Canada. The single parents, the mothers and fathers, day in and day out, make sure the children get up, have breakfast, get them to school, pick them up, look after them when they are sick. I am really grateful for the parents for doing that.

We in the Legislative Assembly sit here and we are very busy. We are doing good work for our people. There are very fine MLAs here to speak very strong

on their issues for their people. I am grateful for the families that support these MLAs here in this House and, more importantly, for getting the children to the school, for pushing them through and disciplining. Sometimes it is very hard. I am very grateful for these kinds of things that happen. I am grateful for the good Lord for giving us some of the strength to be here every day and to fight hard and for some of the responses we get. Sometimes they are not always ones that we want to hear. Sometimes we win some and lose some. Sometimes it is very difficult to lose, but it is also very appreciative when you can get the chance to represent your people in this forum and to thank mothers and fathers who have raised us. I hope we do the same thing for our children. I want to say thank you to my mother and my father.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize the delegation from the Pacific Northwest Economic Region who are currently visiting the Northwest Territories. The Pacific Northwest Economic Region is a public/private partnership composed of legislators, governments and businesses from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, British Columbia and Alberta, Yukon and Saskatchewan. The delegation consists of John van Dongen, Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Abbotsford-Clayburn and president of PNWER; representative George Eskridge, representative for Idaho State District 1 and United States vice-president of PNWER; Honourable Jim Kenyon, Minister of Economic Development, Government of Yukon and past-president of PNWER; Mr. Matt Morrison, executive director of PNWER; and accompanying them is Mr. Garry Singer, director of trade and investment from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to recognize the Pages from Lutselk’e that were with us all week: Morning Star Catholique, Jasmine Desjarlais-McCallum, also Jasmine’s mother is the person travelling with the two Pages, chaperone Prairie Desjarlais. I would also like to recognize Chipewyan interpreter Tom Unka and also my CA, Joe Bailey, who has been working with me for two years. His grandmother is from Lutselk’e and his grandfather is from Fort Resolution. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to recognize the work of the Pages. We have two of them here from Inuvik Twin Lakes. We have Mr. Colton Chinna and Mr. Davis Neyando. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize this day as my daughter and son-in-law’s fourth wedding anniversary. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to recognize some long-time residents of Yellowknife, who happen to be constituents of the Frame Lake riding, Mr. Jim and Mrs. Marion Wylie sitting up there. Accompanying them is their daughter Lea and their nephew Robert Collinson.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize visitors Don and Fran Ford, who are parents of Debbie Doody, the operator of The Ledge Cafe and our very own caterer. I would also like to recognize Jim and Marion Wylie. They are long-term residents and I am sure they reluctantly and recently moved from the Weledeh riding. We are proud to have them here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

I, too, would like to commend the Legislative Assembly on their Page Program. I have two young students from the community of Wrigley, Miss Amber Clillie and Raylene Peter. Welcome and I am sure glad you had a good week. Thank you.