Thank you, Mr. Chair. During the course of committee's review of the seven devolution-related bills, we found that each department approached bills in a different way. We also found that, while the bills had some common language, other common concepts were not treated similarly in the bills. Rather than making recommendations in each report, the committee decided to issue an overarching report on the process. The recommendations in this report should be considered extensions of the recommendations found in the reports committee has already presented. With that, Mr. Chair, we have a number of motions towards recommendations that I will put forward at the appropriate time. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Lastly, I move that this committee recommends, to the extent that it is possible before the dissolution of the 18^th Assembly, and for the public record, that the government provide a response to these recommendations, even of a preliminary nature, that the committee may publicly disclose. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Really, this is the real request that we have tried to make of the Minister and the government all along, essentially saying that, you know, it is time that we recognize that, while there might be these one-off circumstances that the department and the Minister might be able to improve upon and help and fix, there are just too many out there that have been identified, time and time again, through the various departments and through the various forms of contracting that we undertake, and that, you know, on numerous occasions in this House, in various forms of statements and questions, we have asked the government to undertake this, and we felt at this time that it is time to put this into a recommendation in the hopes that the forthcoming government will undertake this initiative and do the necessary review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories undertake a comprehensive public review of all procurement-related policies with the explicit direction to modernize government procurement process and to ensure that NWT businesses can benefit and a healthy private sector is developed in the NWT, taking into consideration concerns and issues raised in this report, along with the committee's recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories establish a procurement advisory panel composed of members of industry, small business, procurement experts, and members of the public service; and further, this panel should be guided by a clear terms of reference, setting out the panel's role in providing regular advice to the government on how to improve procurement processes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Further to my opening comments, I just wanted to add a few more remarks. We recognize that this government is rather large, and it spends big sums of money. It does it through a number of various departments and projects. It does it in a number of various forms; public tenders, requests for proposals, standing offer agreements, and even sole sourced opportunities. As my colleague from Frame Lake mentioned, we are starting to delve more and more into P3 contracts.

I think what's important is that we recognize that each one of these areas has its own numbers of challenges, and that we simply have to start to accept that there are these challenges and admit, first of all, that they are, in fact, hindering small business; and further admit that we need to review these policies and processes. That's essentially been the ask from a number of Members throughout this four-year term, is to say, look, we're telling you that this is hindering small business. We need to collaborate and work with small business and various enterprises to get this right.

Essentially, what you're going to hear at the appropriate time later today is that we want to see a collaborative process with industry in improving these procurement policies and processes, and essentially taking on a review of them so that we can improve them, and get back to utilizing them in the way in which they were intended. While I appreciate the government has its own interest in terms of how it needs to spend its funds in the best interests of the public at large, there's also got to be a degree of understanding that a lot of local economy relies on government spending, so we've got to do it the right way. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In August of 2018, the standing committee conducted a survey focused on procurement-related policies and processes. This survey was undertaken in response to concerns that had been raised by various business owners and operators. Committee received responses from businesses of all sizes, representing a wide variety of industry sectors from the Beaufort-Delta, North Slave, and South Slave regions of the NWT.

Northwest Territories businesses raised various issues amongst which conflicting policies and practices were a key concern. For instance, businesses note that the government's lowest bid rule and standing offer agreements may conflict with the intent of the Business Incentive Policy. Collaboration between government and vendors is another key concern of business. Multiple local businesses felt disadvantaged in the competition for contracts with government because they saw a limited understanding of the unique situation of northern businesses reflected in the government's invitations to tender.

The feedback received by committee shows that Northwest Territories businesses have concerns focused on four key themes: first, increasing consistency, clarity, and transparency in the procurement system; second, attracting local vendors more effectively; third, understanding NWT business capabilities better; and fourth, integrating mechanisms and services to contribute to the successful delivery of the contract.

Mr. Chair, committee would like to thank all those who participated in the survey for sharing their experiences and providing substantial recommendations. At the appropriate time, I will have motions to move the recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I just wanted to take this opportunity to really extend my appreciation to the committee for the work that they have undertaken. I do want to recognize that they have kept other Members informed as they were moving along through the process. At one point in time, there was genuine concern about this particular bill and its content, so I wanted to commend the committee for the work that they have done to reach out to particular stakeholders that provided some critical feedback and critical information that I think helped the committee moved this bill forward in a more progressive fashion that got it where it is today.

Again, I just really wanted to take this opportunity to extend my thanks and appreciation to the efforts of the committee and, of course, to the department for appreciating what concerns the committee had brought forward and working collaboratively to get it to where it is today. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize three constituents from Yellowknife North today. First, we have visiting, a long-time community advocate and social advocate, well-known in Yellowknife for all of her hard work, Arlene Hache. I want to congratulate her for her announcement today. She has been selected to be on the National Advisory Council on Poverty. Congratulations, Arlene.

I also want to acknowledge Josee Clermont, who is the directrice generale for College nordique francophone, and of course, a man of many hats, Yellowknife North resident Mr. Tony Whitford. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.