The Ombud described several ways the Act, as it is written now, prevents the public from making complaints and why this is problematic:

1. Housing Associations

The Act allows the Ombud to investigate housing authorities but not housing associations. In practice, this means the Ombud can investigate a public housing complaint from a tenant Yellowknife (Sombaa K'e) but not the same complaint from a tenant in Fort McPherson (Teetl'it Zheh) or in the other ten communities where the local housing organization is defined as an association. The jurisdictional restriction on investigating housing associations raises an equity of access issue. Residents in certain generally smaller communities are unable to request investigations and pursue remedies to matters related to their local housing association.

Committee wants to see this equity of access issue resolved as soon as possible.

2. NWT Rental Office

The Ombud reported that she has heard concerns about the NWT Rental Office but she cannot substantiate those concerns because the Act leaves out the NWT Rental Office from her jurisdiction. A number of other offices also fall outside of her jurisdiction: The Assessment Appeals Tribunal, the Social Assistance Appeal Board, and the Staffing Appeals Officer, among others.

The Ombud indicated that the NWT's Ombud Act "is an outlier, in terms of legislation, across Canada. Everyone else has a broader provision." This means that NWT residents have less scope to seek administrative fairness in government administration and services compared with other Canadians.

Committee wants to see Northerners' complaints treated the same way as they would be in other provinces and territories.

3. Temporal Jurisdiction.

The Act restricts the Ombud from investigating matters that occurred before January 1, 2016. This restriction has, in practice, prevented the Ombud from launching investigations into some complaints. The Ombud has reported that complainants found the cut-off "arbitrary and unfair" and "hard to accept." This means that complainants who may have experienced a historical unfairness cannot access a remedy through the Ombud's office. The committee wants to ensure that all substantiated complaints from Northerners are investigated regardless of when the matter occurred.

Recommendations

The committee finds that the Ombud's recommendations to amend the Ombud Act well researched and aligned with statutory standards elsewhere. The recommendations have merit and should be considered for implementation with the shortest delay. The Standing Committee on Government Operations therefore recommends:

Recommendation 1

That the Government of the Northwest Territories, in consultation with the Standing Committee on Government Operations and within the first two years of the 20th Assembly, review each of the Ombud's recommendations in her 2019-2020 Annual Report in the context of a holistic review of the Ombud Act and amend the Act accordingly. The committee also encourages the Ombud to convey the continued relevance of outstanding recommendations in each of the annual reports.

I will now pass it over to the Member for Yellowknife North. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Member for Yellowknife North.

Releasing Annual Reports Sooner

It is important for the annual reports of statutory officers, like the Ombud, to be released in a timely manner. Timely release allows for any problems identified by statutory officers, and recommendations to fix them, to be addressed sooner. The Committee's review process is also more relevant when annual reports are provided shortly after the year's end. Ultimately, timely release enhances the effectiveness of the committee's oversight of government. The Ombud's Annual Report is not currently released to committee or the public in a timely manner. The Ombud's first two annual reports, for 2019-20 and 2020-21, were released only once they were tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Tabling occurred in the fall session of the Assembly - six to eight months after the fiscal year-end in March.

The delay is not the result of the slowness on the Ombud's part. The Act requires the Ombud to prepare and submit her annual report to the Speaker "no later than July 1st. The Speaker must then table the report" as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Tabling a document has the effect of making it available to the public. Historically, the Speaker only tables a document during session, the period of time when the Legislative Assembly holds its meetings. In most years, the next instance after July 1st when session is held is in the fall. This implies a period of three to five months during which the annual report is complete but not available for committee or the public to review.

The annual reports of other statutory officers, such as the Information and Privacy Commissioner and the Languages Commissioner, are also typically available to committee and the public in the fall session. Committee wants to see the annual reports of statutory officers, and of all public entities more generally, released in a timelier fashion.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations therefore recommends:

Recommendation 2

That the Speaker of the Northwest Territories, in consultation with the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, and before the end of the 19th Assembly, review and amend the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, to allow annual reports of statutory officers to be released publicly once they are received, and before they are tabled. This rule change should, in effect, allow the Speaker to make available to committee and to the public the Ombud's annual report upon receipt or shortly thereafter.

Conclusion

This concludes the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2020-2021 Annual Report of the Ombud. Committee looks forward to the government's response to these recommendations.

Recommendation 3

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Reports of standing and special committees.

Mr. Speaker, I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that the Standing Committee on Government Operations' Report on the Review of the 2020-2021 Annual Report of the Ombud be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for further consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. The motion is in order. To the motion.

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

---Carried

The report of the Ombud will be moved into Committee of the Whole later today. Thank you.

Reports of standing and special committees. Returns to oral questions. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 2022 has been like no other year in the operation of MTS. I mean, we've had many factors, barges being late, buoys being placed a month, weather factors. The list goes on, Mr. Speaker. I hear the Member's concern about working with the residents to try and have a look at some of the stuff that's been brought in and perhaps -- I mentioned yesterday that we are working on contingency plans. So that will be part of it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I thank the Minister for that. I just want a commitment in regards to being able to hand in a receipt if it's possible to MTS in regards to getting funds back to the constituents as my constituency is the most northerly constituency, and it's highest cost of living besides yours, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know what? I've been saying "yes" all week so this is going to be one of those that are probably going to be "no." I can't commit right now, Mr. Speaker. I mean, there's a lot of number of things we need to look at. We are taking responsibility for the goods that are affected by the barge going in. So we are looking after those. To the extent of what means and how much that would cost, that's still underway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess this next week I have my leadership coming down, of my mayors from the communities in regards to the go-forward on a barging plan to work with the Minister and the department. I really think that in the talks I think something like this should be brought up anyway. And I just wanted to make sure that we get commitment from our Minister in regards to working together to try to compensate everybody that's been affected. It's not their fault that what happened. And we should be -- if they had to fly goods in, they should be compensated. And I want the department to think about that and they got a week to think about it because I got my leadership coming down to work together with the government to get this sorted out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I mentioned to the Member that I would be working with the Member and the residents -- the leadership, sorry, in Sachs Harbour. So I do want to note that the Department of Infrastructure's undertaking a post-season evaluation. So what that means it would be examining what occurred, what additional mitigation can be considered in the future so we don't have this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, us being, I guess, laid up or tied up, I guess, for the rest of the season, say for instance in Paulatuk, will there be any employment opportunities for security or watching the vessels and stuff like that for community members and -- because I did get a call from a young man that was looking into something -- doing something like that to provide that service for MTS; is that possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of course, you know, with all the equipment that is waiting to get in the community, you know, it's our responsibility to be able to ensure that they're kept secure. And that's something that we need to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's been a few months here since flooding occurred in Hay River, and people want to get back in their homes. So Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister what is the staff complement and duties of those persons currently assisting residents and businesses affected by the flood in Hay River? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for MACA.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is presently eight MACA declared solely to the 2022 flood recovery effort. We have a director and a finance officer in Yellowknife, and we have six pathfinders; four in Hay River and two in Yellowknife. In addition, there's excessive support being provided by several staff at Yellowknife, or headquarters, and the South Slave Region as well as other GNWT departments, including Environment and Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Housing NWT, and Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that. It's interesting that, you know, we have eight people really on the ground looking after $200 million roughly, which is probably bigger than some departments. So either we're going to have to reassess how we're managing things internally.

Mr. Speaker, what restrictions have been -- I'd like to ask the Minister what restrictions have been placed on disbursement of funding under the DAP program by the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you. Municipal and Community Affairs is providing disaster assistance recovery from the 2022 flood consistent with the GNWT Executive Council Disaster Assistance Policy with two federal government programs. The disaster Assistance Policy is a government-funded program that may be implemented after wide-spread disaster to ensure essential community functions and covers the essential basic needs of residents and businesses. Disaster assistance is limited to essential items, the loss of which was either preventable or noninsurable. It is not an insurance program to recover all losses and provide assistance to restore eligible items as per pre-disaster conditions. The GNWT policy is modeled on the federal government's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements, or the DFAA, and is designed to help maximize financial assistance available for the DFAA.

There are numerous requirements that MACA must follow laid out in the GNWT's Disaster Assistance Policy and the federal program. Our pathfinders are in place to help residents and businesses with the process to assist disaster assistance and to answer their questions about their requirement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.