Thank you. Are all of these positions staffed? Are these people ready to go? Are we going to have to take time to put those people in place? Thank you.
Debates of Feb. 22nd, 2019
This is page numbers 4981 - 5018 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 community. View the webstream of the day's session.
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Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have completed the design work. We have completed the job descriptions. We have had the jobs evaluated. Some of the positions are out for staffing now. Some have been interim staff through transfer assignments.
The work on staffing is well under way, and we don't anticipate any delay. We are working on advancing some of those projects. We have engagement meetings next week on the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project. That is being done by some of those positions that we have in place here today. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Kieron Testart Kam Lake
Thank you. Just to be clear, because this new appropriation to support the division hasn't been approved, where are the resources for the people doing the work under what has been proposed? Where are those resources coming from, as they have not yet been approved? Thank you.
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those positions that we have in place are being funded through the Invest in Canada Plan. We are allowed to use some of that funding towards the resources that we need to implement the projects, so federal infrastructure funding is paying for those positions right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kieron Testart Kam Lake
Thank you. Nothing further on that. I did have more of a policy question around the concerns that Members and the standing committee have raised around prompt payment and whether or not any of part of this budget is allocated to developing prompt payment policies or prompt payment legislation. Thank you.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair Daniel McNeely
Thank you, Mr. Testart. I point out that procurement is later on, but I will allow this. Deputy Minister Guy.
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is no specific funding around prompt payment. All of the work that we are doing on procurement procedures and procurement policies, supporting the Department of Finance on the procurement procedures manual, any of that work is funded through a different activity in this budget. It is part of our base appropriation in the procurement shared services, and any of the work that we do around procurement is under there. There is no funding in here to develop legislation at this time. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Kieron Testart Kam Lake
Thank you. This line of policy planning and communication, I am assuming that is where the department houses its policy analysts and the people who would undertake policy development and legislative development. Am I incorrect in that? Thank you.
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Member is correct. Under corporate management, our Policy Division has the responsibility for developing all of our legislation work on the Highways Act, Motor Vehicles Act, and any of our other legislative initiatives, but currently there is no work going on or planned in that division around prompt payment. We would be waiting for the outcome of any work that happens at the cross-jurisdictional level, at the federal level, and the findings of the Procurement Procedures Working Group that is working on the matter right now. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kieron Testart Kam Lake
I will follow up on the work of the procurement group when we get to that activity. Thank you. Nothing further.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I want to follow up on some of the questions by my colleague, the MLA for Yellowknife North, on carryovers.
In the business plan that is posted to the Department of Finance website, 2017-2018, almost 50 percent of the capital infrastructure projects managed by Infrastructure were carried over. I did hear the discussion about trying to better manage this issue into the future, but is there actually a formal tracking system that the department now has in place to track carryovers? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The information that I have is that, in 2018-2019, our client-managed capital carryovers was approximately 37 percent of the total GNWT Infrastructure carryover for 2018-2019. We have been doing a lot of work to improve on those results. I spoke to a lot of those details.
On the client-managed capital, which I believe the question was about, yes, we track each and every project. At the project management level, we have a tracking system in place. They are discussed regularly at the regional operations level, and at the regional project management level, progress on each project is tracked and monitored on a regular basis. We have an internal tracking system in place. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
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Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear that there is a client-based project tracking system. I take it by that, then, it is individual projects where Infrastructure is managing these projects for other departments. Is that rolled up in some way across the whole government, and does it include the infrastructure projects that the department itself is undertaking? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
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Guy
Thank you, Mr. Chair. We also track the ones that we deliver on behalf of our own department, particularly on the roads and the highways projects that are tracked within the Transportation Division. They keep track of that there, and it is rolled up through asset management. Thank you, Mr. Chair.