Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to start by reflecting on some of the challenges of developing a mandate. The Government of the Northwest Territories has been developing mandate documents to guide its work since the 1999 agenda for the new North set the vision for a post division Northwest Territories that no longer included Nunavut. In the last 20 years, subsequent consensus governments have been challenged with developing an agenda that articulates a shared vision of the Northwest Territories, one that reflects the aspirations of all Northerners while staying rooted in practical actions and goals that can be measured as we move toward our vision.
Finding the right combination of vision and action has been a challenge during the government mandate-setting exercises. Another has been crafting a mandate that respects the balance between the authority of the Executive branch of government to deliver programs and services and the responsibility of the legislative branch of government to provide oversight.
I think we can all agree that there have been some successes and failures in mandate-setting exercises and that we are continuing to learn from past experiences. The mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly was set collaboratively between Cabinet and Regular Members, based on priorities set by all 19 Members of the Legislative Assembly. Having spoken to Members of the previous Assembly, I would think it would be fair to say that the collaborative effort to be inclusive resulted in an unwieldy mandate. The key mandate objectives were mixed in with day-to-day government business, resulting in a lengthy laundry list of hundreds of mandate items. There was also some duplication in the actions identified and varying degrees of detail about the work to be done.
Another shortcoming of the previous mandate is that it did not easily lend itself to measurement. For example, if the mandate identified improving food security as a goal, it offered no method for determining what progress was made to increase food security. The inability to measure progress hampers accountability, Madam Chair. I believe that some of the lessons learned have positively impacted the mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 19th Legislative Assembly that we are reviewing today.
Before I turn my attention to that, I want to start by thanking the Premier and her Cabinet for working collaboratively with Regular Members to develop this mandate. As a new Member, I found this collaboration to be one of the first real consensus challenges as an MLA. To avoid creating a lengthy mandate, Members had to make difficult choices when setting priorities. The priorities that emerged from our discussions are not necessarily the priorities that any one of us might have selected as individuals. However, they best reflect the overall priorities of the 19 Members as an Assembly.
You may have heard the saying that, if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. We kept that in mind and made some tough choices. As a result, some things that are important to my constituents might not have made the list of priorities determined by the Assembly, but they reflect the needs of all NWT residents, and, as a Member, I stand behind that. Once the priorities were set, the mandate was crafted by the Executive branch of government. It identifies not only what the government will do, but also how it will be done. As importantly, it also identifies the timeline for completing the work and sets out measures for determining progress.
I want to thank the Premier for listening to the important requests of Regular Members and ensuring mandate progress is measurable. This will be incredibly helpful to hold government accountable throughout our term and to demonstrate that we collectively achieved something real at the end of the Assembly.
I understand we will be working through 22 mandate priorities and the actions identified to achieve those priorities in detail, so I will hold my comments on the specific priorities until we come to them. There are, however, some important factors that will have an impact on our success in achieving the priorities we have set.
The first is the importance of good communication. Timely, honest, and accurate communication has the ability to unite our territory toward a common goal and empower Northerners to become involved with clear and encouraged democratic participation. Poor communication results in misunderstandings that distract the government and this Assembly from the important work at hand. I believe the GNWT has not paid enough attention to the importance of communication in the past. I believe that, in the past, there was reluctance by government to communicate with the public for fear of judgment or public criticism, but we are getting better. Communications have evolved in this connected internet era. The public's expectations have also evolved. People don't want spin. They don't want to be told what to believe. They want the facts so they can judge for themselves. In all the work the GNWT does to achieve this mandate, I encourage my colleagues on Cabinet to be as communicative as possible with the Members of this Assembly and with the public. So much can be resolved, simply by preventing misunderstandings in the first place. It is also important to acknowledge errors when they are made. Mistakes will happen. What matters is how we address our errors. We are all human, and none of us is perfect.
We have heard lots of talk about the importance of partnerships to help this government reach its goals. Effective partnerships are another essential ingredient for achieving a successful mandate, partnerships with community governments, stakeholders, non-government organizations, intergovernmental partnerships with Indigenous governments, and public-private partnerships. There are many types of partnerships, and they are all fundamental to good governance and progress. However, to be successful, partnerships must be built on shared objectives, mutual respect, and trust. For the GNWT to be successful in its partnerships, it has to be prepared to meet its partners as equals and to listen to the needs and concerns of those we choose to partner with, and who choose to partner with us.
The GNWT also needs to be consistent in its approach to its partners. A strong partnership between an Indigenous government and a GNWT department can be undone if the same Indigenous government feels it is receiving poor treatment at the hands of another department. In addition, we cannot drive a legacy of relationships and partnerships without moving the needle on lands, resources, and self-government agreements, and increase regional decision-making. Ministers need to listen, not only to the advice of their senior managers, but to the organization's clients and residents that government works with and for. As politicians, you are best positioned to have your finger on the pulse of the electorate and to provide clear political leadership to the public service.
I have said it before, Madam Chair, our priorities are all connected. While large budgets are always exciting, not every priority requires huge pots of money to move the meter. Some require the fluidity of being able to provide our public servants with the space to be creative and think outside their cubicle. For example, we have multiple departments working to attract people to the Northwest Territories, whether it is to stay for a week as a tourist or to stay for a lifetime as a new Northerner. Industry, Tourism and Investment; Health and Social Services; Finance; and Education, Culture and Employment each has a mandate to bring people to the Northwest Territories, but each work on attracting these people within the context of their own department mandate. NWT Tourism brings a beautiful, interactive experience-based booth to its trade shows and events, but what are we bringing to job fairs to attract nurses? We aren't selling nursing jobs. Every city, town, and island has a nursing job. We're selling an experience. How can we bring these public servants together and empower them to expand their creativity and work together to sell a common goal of experiencing the Northwest Territories? How can we work across silos to reduce costs and increase productivity? I believe that this Assembly can make its mark by leading a change in the government's approach to providing programs and services. We have a long history of government acting as a gatekeeper for access to public information, programs, and services. I believe that my colleagues on Cabinet want change in that system as much as I do.
This mandate will not improve the lives of Northerners unless we improve our service ethic. Every single employee of this government should be encouraged to adopt this ethic of service to the people of the Northwest Territories as their highest priority and bring this attitude with them to work every single day. I also believe that our public servants benefit from having a robust legislation and policy, providing a framework that affords them the ability to apply discretion when doing their jobs, to ensure that our clients, the members of the public, do not experience undue frustration in their dealings with the government. I hope that having an Ombud in place will help the GNWT to improve its procedural fairness in its dealings with the public.
Finally, Madam Chair, as Ministers work on defining the budget allocations that will be used to meet our priorities, I ask that they be bold in their leadership. Our legacy will evolve from a union of the way we drive accountability, what we leave Northerners and the 20th Assembly, and also what meter Cabinet chooses to move. Given our fiscal restraints, we cannot do everything. I ask that Cabinet make the tough decisions on what meter to move and to not make that decision lightly. What will drive the success of Northerners for generations to come? What will enable Northerners to thrive? Be bold. I am counting on you and believe this Assembly, in collaboration with every single department, has the potential to make change. Thank you, Madam Chair.