Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Next Steps

The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures will:

1. Consider the potential for existing or emerging technologies to enhance public access to information and public interaction.

2. Do further consultation with individual members of the Legislative Assembly, Chairs of standing committees, GNWT officials, and members of the public and organizations; to elicit input on how to enhance transparency and public engagement in the work done by the Standing Committees.

The committee recognizes that further work should be done to examine a number of issues including:

● What does “public” really mean in the context of meetings and does it include broadcasting?

● What supporting materials for standing committee meetings should be public?

● Should standing committee deliberations and decisions be made in public, and how might that be documented?

● What, if any, standing committee correspondence is public?

● How to ensure consistency of processes and procedures across the standing committees?

● How often and by whom should standing committee procedures be reviewed in light of commitments to more public engagement and transparency?

The committee looks forward to conducting additional research and hearing from the public and Members on these matters. The committee will focus on practical and effective ways our standing committees can improve their transparency and engagement, and provide useful information to the interested public. The Committee plans to report further to the Assembly in June 2017. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh that Committee Report 5-18(2) be received and adopted by this Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour?

I'm sorry.

Oh, sorry. Member for Frame Lake.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'll keep this very short; I know we've had a long day here and probably go for a bit longer, but I did want to acknowledge and thank the committee members who worked on this report. We've done a lot of work together. I think we've had more meetings than any of the other standing committees. It's a huge relief to me personally to have this off my desk and a lot of personal satisfaction. So I want to recognize the work of the committee members: the honourable Member for Thebacha, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Nahendeh and the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

We did seek input from Caucus as well, all of the Regular Members, back in August on our retreat, and I don't think we shifted direction in any substantive way. We did look at the concepts of public engagement. We reviewed our current activities, how it's done in other jurisdictions. We've made some interim recommendations in here and we hope to do some further work.

I think it's really important that the public and the media understand the fundamental changes that will take place now in how we conduct our business as a result of the changes to the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions and the tabling of this report in this House. We are fundamentally changing the way that we do our business as a Legislative Assembly. I don't think it's actually sunk in for us all, but now the default is that we will do our business in public rather than in private meetings. We will continue to have private meetings where necessary but we will start off our meetings in public and they will go in camera but for specified reasons. That's a very fundamental shift in how we do our business, and I can't emphasize that enough.

I mentioned, though, at the conclusion of our report that we are seeking further input on matters, including what's really meant by public meetings; what sort of supporting materials are to be made public as part of standing committee meetings; deliberations and decisions by standing committees, whether those should be done in public and how they should be documented; committee correspondence, should that be made public; how we ensure consistency across our standing committees and how we should regularly review our public engagement and transparency as standing committees.

So we do welcome further input from the public, the media, and our Regular Members, of course, all Members of this House, and we do expect to have a final report in 2017. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to further discussion about these important matters.

Mahsi. To the motion. Question has been called. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Committee Report 5-18(2) has been received and adopted by this Assembly. Masi, colleagues.

Item 4, reports of standing and special committee. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 7, acknowledgements. Item 8, oral questions. Item 9, written questions. Item 10, returns to written questions. Item 11, replies to Commissioner's opening address. Item 12, petitions. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 14, tabling of documents. Minister for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation 2016 Annual Report," "Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation 2016-2017 Corporate Plan," and "Northwest Territories Coroner Service 2015 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Annual Report on Official Languages 2015-2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 312-18(2) Managed Alcohol Programs." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table two documents. The first one is a Letter from the City of Yellowknife to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs regarding a Municipal request for legislative changes. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is called "The Northern Way Hybrid Micro-grids Improving Energy Security Through a Northern Alternative to Carbon Pricing.” Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Tabling of documents. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, Tabled Document 143-18(2) and Tabled Document 163-18(2) with the Member for Hay River North in the Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is the wish of Committee? Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 143-18(2), Capital Estimates, 2017-2018, and Tabled Document 163-18(2), Capital Estimates, 2017-2018 for the Department of Public Works and Services and Department of Transportation, and committee would like to consider the Department of Transportation today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?

Committee will take a very, very brief break and we will resume with consideration of the documents.

---SHORT RECESS

I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 163-18(2), Capital Estimates 2017-2018 for the Department of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation. We will continue with the Department of Transportation, which begins on page DOT-1. We will defer consideration of the departmental total until after we consider the activity summaries. So would committee please turn to page DOT-2, asset management, with associated detail on pages 3 and 4. But first, committee, I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he has any opening remarks.