Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Confidential Information and Nature of the Bills Inhibited Public Consultation
Committee originally planned to hold public meetings in Fort Providence, Hay River, Inuvik, and Yellowknife. However, on May 8th of this year, two thirds of the way through the formal 120-day review period, committee was notified in writing by the Finance Minister that the GNWT had revised its carbon tax approach for large emitters, those emitting 50,000 tonnes or greater of annual greenhouse gas emissions. This was of concern to committee, which already felt that the GNWT's proposed approach to large emitters was too generous. Committee was advised that this adjustment was necessary to better align the GNWT's approach with the federal backstop, details of which were only released by Canada in December 2018.
Committee had hoped that additional information about this change in approach would be made public by the Minister during the May-June sitting, including details provided in confidence to committee. When this information was not shared with the public, committee subsequently issued a news release on June 7th advising of its decision to postpone the planned public consultations until more information was provided by the Department of Finance.
Committee asked that as much detail as possible related to the committee's specific questions be shared with the public. Unfortunately, as with much of the other information shared by Finance with committee, the responses to these questions were marked "Confidential - Not for Distribution." This is particularly vexing with respect to Bills 42 and 43, where the majority of the GNWT's proposal is not contained in the legislation itself but in regulations and other public policy instruments.
Committee is not at liberty to disclose information provided in confidence by Cabinet Ministers. Unfortunately, the large majority of the correspondence received by committee from the Finance Minister on this initiative, including responses to committee's questions, was marked confidential, thereby prohibiting committee from publicly disclosing its contents. This also inhibited committee's ability to engage in a meaningful consultation. For example, committee's inability to disclose the information contained in Finance's May 8 letter rendered committee unable to explain to the public, even with the writing of this report, how the GNWT's approach to large emitters has changed.
Plain-Language Summaries Provided
Committee wrote to the Minister requesting plain-language explanations of Bills 42 and 43 that could be shared with the public.
Committee wishes to take this opportunity to thank the Minister for responding positively to the committee's request by preparing plain-language summaries of both bills that could be shared with the public. It is committee's experience, based on consultations undertaken over the course of the 18th Assembly, that simple, straight-forward information for NWT residents outlining the purposes of changes to the law and the impact of those changes is vital to obtaining meaningful input from the public. Too often, committee finds itself having to explain government-sponsored bills, leading to confusion about the role of standing committees and the legislative process. Accordingly, committee makes the following recommendation.
Recommendation 1
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that, for all bills proposing to establish, replace, or make significant changes to territorial legislation, a plain-language summary be prepared and made available to the appropriate standing committee at the time the bill is introduced in the Legislative Assembly.
Committee sent out a second news release on July 15th, indicating that it still lacked sufficient detail to enable committee to adequately answer questions from the public on these Finance-sponsored bills. This consideration, along with timing constraints, led committee to the decision to request written submissions from the public and hold a single public meeting in Yellowknife on August 1st.
Mr. Speaker, I now pass on the reading responsibilities to my honourable colleague, to my colleague for Hay River North.