The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Department of Finance, upon completion of a privacy impact assessment in 2018-2019 by the Information and Privacy Commissioner and having considered the committee's suggestions contained in this report, reconsider amending the Non-consolidated Schedule of Bad Debt Write-offs, Forgiveness and Student Loan Remissions to better protect the privacy of individuals.
Accountability and Transparency
A commitment to improving accountability and transparency is one of the key priorities of the 18th Legislative Assembly and a fundamental component of the Government of the Northwest Territories' mandate. Public information must be clear, concise, and easily understood by the average reader.
The public accounts are the definitive source of information for the public on the GNWT's fiscal performance. However, they are prepared for a very specific purpose, according to federal and territorial legislation and following standards set by the Public Sector Accounting Board. As a result, these documents are not easily understood by non-expert readers.
In previous reviews, the standing committee has urged the Department of Finance to find ways to make the information contained in the public accounts as clear as possible for interested readers lacking expertise in finance or accounting. Finance has responded positively, first producing a document in 2015-2016, titled "The Public Accounts: An Overview," which provides non-expert readers with an introduction to the public accounts and the information contained within them. In 2016-2017, this was supplemented by a document titled "2016-2017 Financial Highlights of the Public Accounts," which the committee understands will be updated annually to coincide with the release of the public accounts.
Officials from the OAG advised the committee that the Department of Finance has been working to complete the translation of government annual reports into French and will be ensuring that those of the territorial corporations will be completed for 2016-2017 and annually moving forward. The committee supports this work and encourages the department to continue to make available in French all annual reports required under the GNWT's Planning and Accountability Framework.