Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Toolbox: Measuring the Government's Progress Priorities of the 18th Assembly and the Mandate, 2016-2019
New tools recommended by the 17th Assembly and put into effect by the 18th Assembly make it much easier to fairly measure performance of the government and all Members – not just at mid-term, but also at election time. The 18th Assembly’s priorities were developed by Caucus before the selection of Cabinet, with all Members having equal opportunity at all levels of their creation. For the first time, a televised roundtable discussion of priorities took place in the House on December 14, 2015, after a similar private roundtable with leaders of Aboriginal and community governments. The resulting priorities are published and available on the Legislative Assembly’s website, as well as the transcript of the roundtable discussion. These priorities represent the first tool for Members and the public to use in measuring the performance of the government: its actions should advance the 18th Assembly’s priorities, and be consistent with them.
However, a statement of priorities is not a realistic mandate for a government, which must be tempered by consideration of what can be accomplished in a four-year term with the resources at hand. After Cabinet was selected, it was directed to draft a mandate based on the 18th Assembly’s priorities. This draft mandate was publicly discussed, amended, and unanimously approved in the House. It is a statement of goals akin to the platform of a political party. The revised Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019, was then published, re-tabled in the House, and is available on the Assembly’s website. This document serves as the primary tool for measuring the government’s collective performance, and that of the Premier and Ministers tasked with carrying out work in specific areas.
Other Potential Tools
A variety of other tools will be available to assess Cabinet’s performance. The government has committed to public annual reports on its progress in implementing the 18th Assembly’s mandate. The committee recommends that a report be completed by August 31, 2017, and include an assessment of the need for potential changes and additions to the mandate. It should also include Cabinet’s formal assessment of its own performance. Those results will be compared with an evaluation to be produced by the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, comprised of all Regular Members. The committee evaluation will include consideration of the government’s performance in implementing its mandate, reviews of annual business plans, the government’s responses, and the Cabinet’s collective effectiveness in carrying them out. These two reports should be public and tabled in the House. These are the principal tools for measuring the collective performance of the Executive Council, or “Cabinet,” or “the government,” as it is generally called.
Scope of the Mid-term Review
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures was directed to develop a review that “includes the performance of the Executive Council and Standing Committees both collectively and individually.”
There was much debate over the need to include individual Ministers and standing committees in a mid-term review. The committee considered recommending that individual reviews of Cabinet Ministers (including the Premier), and standing committees not be carried out. Proponents of this view argued that the purpose of the mid-term review is to adjust the mandate if needed, and provide updated public direction to the Premier and Cabinet for the final two years of the Assembly’s term. It was also pointed out that if need be, a Minister’s appointment can be revoked at any time by passage of a motion to that effect in the House. Some considered this method the fairest and most transparent, as voting on this type of motion is public and not by secret ballot. It would not, however, likely be a “free” vote. Cabinet solidarity is sure to be invoked, if only to preserve necessary working relationships. Motions of revocation or non-confidence are rare, of course, but past experience suggests they deepen the normally healthy tension between Cabinet and Regular Members, and undermine future prospects for consensus.
The committee considered processes and the outcomes of a mid-term review without assessing the performance of individual Ministers and standing committees, but ultimately found them lacking when measured against the principles for the review and the instructions contained in the House referral motion.
Most Members noted that a decision not to review individual performance of Cabinet Ministers reduces accountability and diminishes the potential for constructive direction, expression of renewed confidence, as well as possible non-confidence. Moreover, declining to provide an option for evaluating individual performance is counter to the Assembly’s direction to this committee.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that a mid-term review be carried out in the fall of 2017, and that it include a public accountability review of the mandate, and assessment of the performance of the Executive Council, both collectively and individually
Recommendation 2
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that Cabinet formally assess its own performance, that the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning produce its own independent assessment of Cabinet’s collective performance, and that both reports be public and tabled in the House.
Public review and potential amendment of the government’s mandate is properly in the hands of Caucus, Cabinet, and the House, as set out in the Assembly’s process convention. But as noted above, the committee determined that regular House proceedings are not best-suited to a review of the individual performance of Cabinet Ministers.
In the two previous Assemblies that conducted a mid-term review, the forum was the Territorial Leadership Committee, or TLC, also the venue for speeches and selection of the Premier and Cabinet by secret-ballot vote. Members of the current Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures judged that the TLC is not an appropriate venue for the new mid-term review, given the consensus government principle that “Regular Members are not a Cabinet in waiting.” A new forum is needed in which all Members are substantially equal. The committee proposes a new Mid-Term Review Committee allowing full participation of all Members (including the Speaker), enabled by the selection of multiple rotating chairs, and secret-ballot voting so all Members may vote according to their beliefs and conscience.
Recommendation 3
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that a new Mid-Term Review Committee be established, specific to that purpose, with designation of multiple chairs to enable all Members, including the Speaker, to participate fully.
Recommendation 4The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures further recommends that the Mid-Term Review Committee conduct its review publicly, in the Chamber of the Legislative Assembly.
I'd now like to turn to my colleague Mr. Shane Thompson to continue this report.