This is page numbers 4225 – 4252 of the Hansard for the 17th 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 public.

Topics

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the day I mentioned in my Member’s statement about devolution and some of the legislation that this House will be passing. Mr. Premier committed to a public review of the devolution legislation starting soon after it’s passed or after April 1st .

Could he describe how he expects the process to unfold so that the public knows what to expect?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The honourable Member will be very pleased to know that we’ve already started that process. We have started a process of informing the public, educating the public with a media blitz whereby we are putting inserts about devolution in the media outlets, and as we go forward, once we know devolution will, in fact, happen on April 1st , we will

expand that so that we can have more interaction with the general public.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

The Premier has done well to engage the four Aboriginal groups. How does the Premier prepare to propose to involve the other Aboriginal governments, especially the Dehcho and the Akaitcho regions, in the review process?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

We are having active discussions with the other Aboriginal governments who have not signed on as of yet. Our objective is to have 100 percent of the Aboriginal governments sign on. The federal government has indicated that their financial contributions will cease after one year, but as a government we will welcome the Aboriginal governments that have not signed on yet. Preferably, our objective is within a year, but I think it will be a standing offer.

We have in place with the Dehcho, a working group of senior officials with oversight provided by myself and the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nations, and I think we’re making very good progress. We’re both going through our different processes to do the due diligence and we’re hoping that we will be able to do the same thing with the Akaitcho Government.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

I’m pleased to hear progress on the Dehcho and Akaitcho fronts there.

Just with respect to the bills, are there any significant restrictions on amending the devolution laws, and if so, what are they and what are these limits?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

For the bills that are passed and given assent to by this government, this government has the authority to deal with them like any other legislation. Obviously, our expectation is that we should at least let them run, have us implement them so that we can get them going. We said we always want a seamless transition, and we recognize that we have some very important responsibilities so that we have to work with the people and also with the third parties and the other Aboriginal governments that are out there so that we can have some certainty and we can have some due process. But the way this government works, any legislation that we have, this government can change it. Obviously, there’s due process for doing that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Kevin A. Menicoche

Kevin A. Menicoche Nahendeh

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has indicated that he’s already doing a public awareness campaign, but just in terms of a public review, I know there are many bills and, of course, I don’t expect for them to review them all, but after April 1st when would the

Premier begin a more extensive public review process? Thank you.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Obviously, when we discussed this we talked about involving Aboriginal governments. I know that committee also has some ideas of who should be involved. We will take all of those ideas and work with committee to come up with a process that would be acceptable to the majority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like many residents, am concerned with this government’s antiquated negotiated and sole-source contracting policy and how the taxpayers are forced to be holding the bag of its mismanagement. The recently tabled response to my question on GNWT contracts over $5,000 does raise awareness of this concern. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance.

Can the Minister comment why taxpayers were forced to pick up the tab of $34 million in the GNWT contract change orders in 2012-2013? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Change orders often result from when you’re doing major renovations and things are uncovered during the course of a project that were not anticipated or seen by anybody, including engineers or the architects or the people doing the project management. It’s all tied into required work to complete the project according to the schedule and according to the agreed to project plan. All the capital plan is funded with taxpayers’ dollars, as are our O and M budgets for the most part. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, the negotiated and sole-source contract policies were designed years ago when there were all but a handful of Aboriginal companies and they wanted to build capacity in the Northwest Territories. Today we have well over 500 with the same mandate.

Can the Minister indicate to the House why the government has not tried to modernize this policy? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

In fact, there were changes in the last government, I believe. Thank you.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, this is news to me. I have not uncovered those changes.

The issue of companies dealing with market saturation or market economy is all too real in many jurisdictions of our territory, yet the negotiated and sole-source contract policy makes no mention of such.

Can the Minister of Finance indicate by what policy this government judges when a market is oversaturated with competing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses and still grants a negotiated or sole-source contract? Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

In the last government there were changes made to BIP and to the Negotiated Contracts Policy which we follow. We also have criteria that we use that are part of that policy. As well, in the North we have had agreements in the past in terms of agreements with the Aboriginal governments when it comes to contract use and allotment in their areas. So the issue of market disruption and the issue that the Member referred to as saturation, I’m not quite sure what the Member considers market saturation with Aboriginal businesses, but we try to consider all the variables. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have no problem explaining my term of saturation with the Minister in his office, but my fourth question is: Will this Minister commit to the House that the negotiated and sole-source contract policy will undergo a robust review by Cabinet, by committee and the public during the life of the 17th Assembly?

Mr. Speaker, a simple yes or no will suffice. Thank you.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

It’s difficult to just say yes or no to an extensive array of questions the Member just presented. What I will say is this with regard to his last question, if there is an interest from committee, we’re going to be starting the business planning cycle for the next budget year, ’15-16, and if it is the wish of committee, we would be willing to fully discuss and review whatever policies any committee wants to during that process. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

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

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did request some concerns from constituents back home regarding some of the HR practices being presented to people who want to get into the workforce and also with some members that want to access some of their HR files.

I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources what is the policy for any GNWT employee, current or past, that would like to access their Human Resources personnel files. Is there a policy and how does one go about accessing them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Minister of Human Resources

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process is current or former employees of the GNWT wishing to review their files have access to them. They are able to go to a Human Resources office where their file is contained and they are able to review their file with a human resources officer. They are free to look at their entire file if they wish to do so. Thank you.