About
The Standing Committee on Government Operations shall consider the following matters with respect to the Departments of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs; Finance; Workers Safety and Compensation Commission; Northwest Territories Power Corporation;; Municipal and Community Affairs, and Justice (Attorney General):
- Review multi-year business plans and budgets, bills, boards and agencies; including the Public Utilities Board;
- Review departmental performance and official language issues, including that of boards and agencies;
- Review, as necessary or appropriate, the annual and other reports of the Statutory Officers of the Legislative Assembly, including the Languages Commissioner, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the Equal Pay Commissioner, the Ombud, and the Human Rights Commission;
- Shall consider issues related to Official Languages;
- Shall consider issues related to emergency preparedness and disaster management;
- Shall consider issues related to the Public Service;
- Shall consider issues related to government service delivery; and
- Shall consider any other matter referred by the House.
Background
The Standing Committee on Government Operations consists of no more then 6 Regular Members and 3 Regular Member alternates. The committee previously reviewed the public accounts and reports of the Auditor General, issues now under the remit of the Public Accounts Committee.
Members
Seeking Input on the NWT Heritage Fund Act
The Government Operations Committee is conducting a statutory ten-year review of the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act (the Act). The Act established the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund, through which a portion of non-renewable resource royalties collected each year are invested in a sovereign wealth fund, to help ensure that future generations benefit from today’s development of non-renewable resources.
The Act does not specify how much should be contributed to the Heritage Fund each year; contributions are approved by the Assembly as part of the annual budget. Since devolution, the GNWT has allocated 25% of its share of resource royalties to the Fund, with the rest earmarked for capital projects and debt repayment.
According to the Act, no funds can be withdrawn from the Heritage Fund before 2033. The Act also imposes limits on the amount that can be withdrawn each year: withdrawals are restricted to the interest generated by the invested contributions, to a maximum of 5% of the Fund’s year-end balance. The Assembly must authorize each withdrawal through legislation, and decisions on how to spend withdrawn funds are approved by the Assembly in the annual budget. Since 2019, the Fund has been managed by CIBC Wood Gundy with the goal of maximizing long-term returns without taking unnecessary risk. The Department of Finance told the Committee in August 2024 that the Fund has seen compounded annual returns of 5.9%. Others have noted that the net return on investment has frequently fallen below the annual rate of inflation. The balance of the Heritage Fund as of March 31, 2024, is $49.7 million.
As part of its review, the Committee can offer recommendations to the Legislative Assembly on whether any amendments to the Act and changes to the Fund should be made. Some of the questions the Committee is studying include:
- Should the Heritage Fund be maintained?
- How much should be contributed to the Fund each year? Should contributions only come from resource royalties, or should other sources of revenue be included? Should these amounts be enshrined in the Act?
- Should the ban on withdrawals from the Fund before 2033 be maintained, or changed?
- Should the limit on withdrawals each year be kept in place, or changed? Should there be guidelines in place on how withdrawals are spent?
- The Fund’s portfolio is primarily composed of safer investments, which generally have a lower rate of return. Should the Fund’s investment strategy change to increase the amount of return generated, even if this strategy is considered a greater risk?
- Currently, the Act can be changed or repealed with the support of a simple majority of MLAs. Should the Act be changed to require a higher threshold of support to make changes or repeal it in the future? If so, what should the threshold be? A previous Committee recommended in 2011 that a special two-thirds majority of MLAs be required to amend the Act.
To inform its work, the Committee is asking NWT residents to share their perspectives on the Act and the Heritage Fund.
Please submit your thoughts in writing or request to speak to Committee at:
📧 Committees@ntassembly.ca
🗓️ Deadline: October 31, 2025
Please note that submissions received may be cited publicly in the Committee’s published work.
Related Links:
- NWT Heritage Fund Act
- NWT Heritage Fund Regulations
- NWT Heritage Fund financial statements for the 2023-24 fiscal year (pages 140 to 154)
- GNWT Department of Finance, NWT Heritage Fund webpage
- Committee report, October 2024: Initiation of the Ten-Year Review of the NWT Heritage Fund Act
- Previous Committee hearings:
- August 27, 2024: Honourable Caroline Wawzonek, Minister of Finance (livestream here)
- January 9, 2025: Duncan Bonfield and Victoria Barbary, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (livestream here)
- January 20, 2025: William L. Megginson, University of Oklahoma (livestream here)
- February 10, 2025: Kevin O’Reilly, Alternatives North (livestream here)
- March 13, 2025: Stephen Thompson and Brittany Jones, Department of Finance and Treasury Board, Government of Alberta (livestream here)
How to Provide Feedback
- Written Submissions: a letter sent to the Committee containing your thoughts, ideas, perspectives and comments.
- NOTE: these are considered public documents unless marked as confidential.
- Oral Comments: Speaking with the Committee in person (or virtually) during a Public Hearing.
Contact
To send written submissions, sign up to provide oral comments at a public meeting, or for more information on any Committee business, please email the Committee Clerk at Committees@ntassembly.ca.