Debates of Oct. 20th, 2017

This is page numbers 127 - 164 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 work.

Topics

Oral Questions

Prayer

Working Together For The Northwest Territories

NWT Highway Improvements

Hay River Business Skilled Labour Requirements

Family Violence Awareness Week

Public Housing In Indigenous Communities

Summer Student Employment

Recognition Of The 99th Birthday Of Persis Gruben Ayownik

Mackenzie Valley Highway Project

Issues With Public Housing Modular Units

Status Of Government Legislative Initiatives

Midwifery Services In The Northwest Territories

Ingraham Trail Road Safety And Maintenance

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Summer Student Employment In Small Communities

Commercial Fishery In Hay River

Highway No. 4 (Ingraham Trail) Road Safety

Public Utilities Board Policy Direction

Legislative Progress

Support For Indigenous Housing

Modular Public Housing Units

Caribou Calving Grounds

Employment Family Assistance Program

Municipalities Funding Gap

Legislative Progress

Commercial Fisheries Revitalization Strategy

Written Question 2-18(3): Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Modular Units Construction

Tabled Document 32-18(3): NWT Housing Corporation Annual Report 2016-2017

Tabled Document 33-18(3): Aurora College Corporate Plan 2017-2018

Tabled Document 34-18(3): Yellowknife Airport Five-Year Business Plan 2017-2018 To 2021-2022

Tabled Document 35-18(3): Follow-Up Letter For Oral Question 770-18(2): Mental Health And Homecare Funding

Tabled Document 38-18(3): Summary Of Members' Absences For The Period September 19 To October 18, 2017

Expression Of Gratitude To Deputy Clerk Douglas Schauerte For Dedicated And Exemplary Service

Apology And Compensation To The Yellowknives Dene First Nation Relating To Damages From The Giant Mine

Recorded Vote

Action On The Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

Recorded Vote

Expression Of Gratitude To Deputy Clerk Douglas Schauerte For Dedicated And Exemplary Service

Recorded Vote

Bill 3: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018

Bill 4: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019

Bill 1: Western Canada Lottery Act

Bill 3: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018

Bill 4: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Completion Of Entities Consolidated Within The Public Accounts

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Comptroller General’s Office Provide Assistance To GNWT Public Agencies

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Continued Debt Servicing And Infrastructure Financing Information Inclusion In The Fiscal Responsibility Policy

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Development Of Public Accounts Summary

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Amend Non-Consolidated Schedule To Protect The Privacy Of Individuals

Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Response To Report Within 120 Days

Committee Report 3-18(3): Standing Committee On Social Development Report On Motion 32-18(2): Referral Of Petition 6-18(2): Elimination Of Time Change In The Northwest Territories To The Standing Committee On Social Development - Changes To Daylight Savings Time Regulations

Report of Committee of the Whole

Bill 3: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018

Recorded Vote

Bill 4: Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019

Recorded Vote

Assent to Bills

Orders of the Day

Committee Motion 20-18(3): Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Comptroller General’s Office Provide Assistance To GNWT Public Agencies, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Testart.

Committee Motion 21-18(3): Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Continued Debt Servicing And Infrastructure Financing Information Inclusion In The Fiscal Responsibility Policy, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories continue to include information in the financial statement discussion and analysis section of the public accounts, indicating how the Government of the Northwest Territories has met the provisions related to debt servicing and infrastructure financing in the fiscal responsibility policy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Committee Motion 22-18(3): Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Development Of Public Accounts Summary, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Mr. Chair, I move that this Assembly recommends that the Minister of Finance work with the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency to develop plain-language materials that summarize the public accounts for a given year in a manner that is understandable for an interested nonprofessional reader focusing on the key financial highlights and significant audit issues arising for that year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. To the motion. Ms. Green.

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to see this recommendation. The public accounts come in a form that is not readily understandable to the interested public, and we have been, we the GNWT has been, warned that it is time for us to make the public accounts more understandable to people who are interested in learning what they are and what they represent about our government, and so I am very pleased to see that the committee has gone this additional step in creating a recommendation to address this, a solution to this long-standing problem. Thank you.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Ms. Green. Mr. Testart, to the motion.

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My colleague, the honourable Member from Yellowknife Centre, put this very well, that this is a long-standing issue that many governments face in making their financial reports and statements legible to the public. It is an example of how we can do something that seems insignificant in the grand scheme of something compared to an open-government policy or other transparency initiatives. Simply creating a readable document for the public about how we budget, how we account, it goes a long way to opening up understanding of our processes and our books. I know that, even for MLAs or candidates who are running for office, you know, having a good sense of how our money is spent and how it is collected and how that information is collected, that helps our democratic process, as well. So this really cuts across many different areas of transparency, and I think it is high time we started doing this and also producing citizen's budgets and documents like that. So it is not just the public accounts that are getting this treatment, but it is all of our fiscal process, including the operations budget and capital budget. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

October 19th, 2017

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Testart.

Committee Motion 23-18(3): Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Amend Non-Consolidated Schedule To Protect The Privacy Of Individuals, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Department of Finance, after consultation with the Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Northwest Territories, reconsider amending the nonconsolidated schedule of bad debt write-offs, forgiveness, and student loan remissions to protect the privacy of individuals by removing the names of those who have received student loan remissions and reporting only the amounts of those remissions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, this is an issue that I have raised in the two public accounts reviews that I have participated in. There is a big difference between bad debt as listed in here and student loan remissions, and my reading of the Financial Administration Act, and I am not a lawyer, when I read it, there is no requirement for disclosure of individual names to be listed in this part of the public accounts, and I think it is an invasion of these individuals' privacy. We want to encourage our students to come back here and work here and live here, and one way we do this is through these student loan remissions. This kind of over-the-top disclosure I think is not required, is not needed, and is an invasion of these individuals' privacy, so I am very happy to see this in here. Look, this takes up pages and pages in the public accounts. There is no need for those names to be identified. A single aggregate amount is all that is really required, and I look forward to our government implementing this particular recommendation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. Mr. Sebert, to the motion.

Louis Sebert Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a government that is committed to openness and transparency, and, in my view, this goes exactly the opposite way. Why do these names have to be concealed from the public? These people are receiving benefits which they deserve -- which they deserve -- I have no problem with that, but this goes completely against the idea of openness and transparency. Thank you.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Sebert. To the motion.

Some Hon. Members

Question.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Question has been called. All those in favour. All those opposed. The motion is carried.

---Carried

Mr. Testart.

Committee Motion 24-18(3): Committee Report 2-18(3): Standing Committee On Government Operations Report On The Review Of The 2015-2016 Public Accounts Of The Government Of The Northwest Territories - Response To Report Within 120 Days, Carried
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters

Kieron Testart Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Chair R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor, and the motion is in order. To the motion.

Debates of Oct. 20th, 2017

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