Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Interjection

That’s fine. There are only two women; it’s hard to keep us straight.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Minister for that response. I had mentioned in my Member’s statement that we were disappointed that the sort of affected… This is a territorial facility. I understood that probably if it was ever re-profiled, it would continue to be a territorial piece of infrastructure. We were disappointed when the MLAs for Hay River and the MLA for Deh Cho weren’t really part of that.

As these discussions proceed, and certainly with all due respect to the K’atlodeeche First Nation because it is on their land, is it possible that we could be included in that dialogue at some point to share our thoughts? And the Standing Committee on Social Programs as well? We would like to be a

part of that. We found out after the fact of the closure. We would like to get in on the ground floor of the planning, if that facility is going to be reutilized. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, certainly that is possible. We would be pleased to consult with the Members that are affected; in fact, all Members, since it is a territorial facility. Thank you.

Thank you. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wanted to follow up with questions to the Minister of Health and Social Services on the Nats’ejee K’eh Treatment Centre.

Until the Nats’ejee K’eh Treatment Centre is reopened or another homegrown facility is established, can the Minister of Health commit to streamlining the process for entry into southern residential treatment programs? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly that was one of the earlier objectives when this facility, Nats’ejee K’eh, closed, that we attempt to streamline the process for any individuals who are wishing to go for treatment.

As I indicated earlier, we believe that once an individual presents themselves as needing treatment, we are trying to get into the very next facility of their choice on the very next intake. Thank you very much.

My question is to the Minister once again. There has been some discussion in terms of on-the-land programs and what it may mean. Perhaps the Minister could tell us the philosophy behind the on-the-land programs, especially the plans and the status of such an initiative. At what point would the Minister be able to explain to this House how an on-the-land program would work? Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, on-the-land treatment is something that was called for by the communities. I do believe that the philosophy of the on-the-land treatment is to get people to go back out on the land for healing. A lot of the Aboriginal people who called for this felt very connected to the land. So we’re trying to develop a philosophy around that type of treatment.

Also, in order to gather more information and develop a program, we have hired an individual who will be specifically working on this project, on-the-land treatment, and we’re also piloting three on-the-land treatment programs that would be either coming in the spring or some time soon. We are

working on piloting those programs, and we’re going to use the materials from that pilot in order to develop a larger, more comprehensive on-the-land program. Thank you.

I’d like to thank the Minister for providing that answer.

What would be some of the features in terms of developing an on-the-land program? Would it be a philosophy that’s based on the AA program? Would it be a philosophy that’s based on First Nations affinity to on the land in terms of the environment? Could the Minister explain? Mahsi.

Thank you. Certainly some of the discussions that we had early on in the development of on-the-land has been that people have called for an AA-based type of program, then starting that on the land and then using AA as an aftercare program. However, I’m not sure if that’s going to be something that will be encompassed out on the land at this point.

At this point, I think the majority of the on-the-land program will be based around the connection the First Nations people have with being out on the land, and using that, I think, as the basis for developing the program. I’m not sure we would have specific counsellors out there, but I do believe that is going to be all part of the program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of listening to the Minister indicating that there are three on-the-land programs that might be piloted, is there a timeline in terms of when we can expect those pilot on-the-land programs to commence? Mahsi.

I don’t have the specific dates on that with me, but I would be more than willing to provide that to the Members across the floor, on where the programs will be piloted and with whom the programs will be piloted by and when they will be piloted. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance some questions on public accounts practices within this government.

Would the Minister of Finance, maybe just for education purposes, let me know what his perspective is for the purpose of having public accounts within this government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The role of public accounts is an important one. When I became Finance Minister, there was a significant delay in reports being done. The public accounts had sort of fallen out of attention and I made it a point, as the Finance Minister, to meet with the Auditor General, along with the deputy minister. We made the commitment that we would pay attention and we would reinforce the importance of time of reports, that the public accounts was an important function, and then the Legislature, as well, took it upon themselves and the committees to take a much more active role. Some of it had not been done for some time. So between us we’ve created a renewed emphasis and political commitment to make this part of the budgeting process an important one, and that we’re working hard and we’ve shown success in terms of getting reports done in a timely way. The committee has taken their new authority and they’ve renewed their interest and they’re now taking a much more active role, all of which can only make for a better total budgeting practice. Thank you.

Thank you. I do appreciate the comments that the Minister has made to committee. On my desk I have two public accounts documents that were tabled in this House on February 18, 2013, when we were actually going through our main estimates at the time in terms of making decisions for the ‘13-14 budget. We are spending those dollars right now as we speak, but once that budget process was done, we didn’t get a chance to look at how other dollars were spent in previous years. I’m assured by the Minister that he is trying to get these documents done as soon as possible, but from the recommendations from our last report, what has the Minister done to ensure we do get these financial statements from the government and from our boards and agencies in a timely manner before we sit before our main estimates practice again? Thank you.

This is a process that has some history to it now, as I’ve indicated in my previous answer. I’ve taken this on, along with the deputy minister of Finance, as a critical issue. It’s been pointed out clearly by the Auditor General that we were lacking in this area and we acknowledged that. So we have the political commitment. We have been working with all of the boards and agencies and government departments to make sure that they know that there is an emphasis on this particular function and that these reports have to get done. We’ve met with chairs and board presidents to make sure that they are clear on this message. It’s been put into people’s job expectations on how they’re going to be measured in terms of the success of their accomplishments of their duties over the year as

another way to move this process forward. As I’ve indicated, we have collaboratively and collectively shown some success here. Thank you.

Thank you. We have a tough job here as legislators to ensure that dollars are spent and accounted for and that we’re spending dollars in the proper way, and with a budget and increasing our debt wall, we can spend dollars in a more efficient way. But with that said, we’ve got to understand where those dollars are being spent in the previous year and the years before.

So is there any process in place right now from the government’s point of view for any of these boards or agencies that we work with that don’t get their reporting in on time? Are there any penalties or consequences for them not putting their reporting in on time that helps us make our decisions a lot easier and a lot better for the taxpayer and the residents of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you. The biggest tool we have is the ones that we are applying and showing progress with. It has become more and more visible as the committee has taken a more active role in reviewing public accounts. Those that are not derelict, but those that are late, those that are tardy, those agencies, boards now have to suffer the scrutiny of not only the Minister of Finance but also of committee, the public, and we’ve put a value on this process. By putting that value on the process we are, over time – a fairly short period of time – getting all the involved boards, agencies and government departments to recognize that this is something they have to pay attention to and give due diligence and attention to.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do commend the work that Government Operations has taken and the initiatives that they’ve taken since being more trained on public accounts.

With that said, is there any type of training that the Minister in terms of Cabinet has for their own departments on making sure dollars are spent properly with keeping them accountable for the work that they’re doing as well? Thank you.