Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. My understanding, at this point, is that there is no methodology. It's meeting between officials and, I'm guessing, executive directors. However, Madam Chair, I want to again extend this to all NGOs. When I say NGOs, it means non-governmental organizations. When we give NGOs money, and we don't have any kind of requirements or measurable outcomes, in my opinion, it sets them up to fail. For example, the homeless shelter that I managed for many years never got an increase, ever. It makes me wonder why. I think that we do need to review all of the agreements, and I think...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, I’ll take that as a comment. I didn’t hear a question, but I did hear the lobbying of the Member, stating that we need to care for the friendship centres. They do provide valuable services. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member knows that I also come from the non-profit world. I have always advocated that the non-profit world is underfunded and overproducing, in my opinion. I am committed to reviewing these. However, Madam Chair, I am also conscious of the limitations of us financially. I do have to take into consideration that this is something that I think we need to look at, but we also have 22 huge priorities that we also need to have at the table. We will look at it. It may not be what the Member would like or that I would like, but we have to be fair in making sure that we...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I did have to get clarifications. I was just aware that there are only two. There’s the Cabinet communications and corporate communications. I was wondering where the regional was coming from, but I think I understand. The difference is that the corporate communications is really departmental-focused, and working with the regions to actually, hopefully, get good news out there to deal with things, advisories to the public, that kind of stuff. Cabinet communications, Madam Chair, is more focused on Ministers and Cabinet. To be blunt, trying to get us out of trouble, a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Office of Devolution Initiatives is responsible for leading the Government of the Northwest Territories through negotiations related to the management of offshore oil and gas resources, and we have also assigned them to be the lead on the review of the NWT Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement transitional provisions as they relate to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Myself and my department are a bit confused. If we're talking about the Single Window Service Centres, it isn't a phased approach, Madam Chair. We are just waiting to open the doors to negotiate with the Indigenous governments. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’ve heard many times in this House, and this Assembly, about the need to review that board in particular. I have committed to that. We will be reviewing all board appointments, not only for the membership, for the length of term, the composition of the board, as well. Those are commitments we are going to take. As for the timeline, as this point, Madam Chair, I cannot say, but I can commit that within a year that work will be done. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are talking NWT-wide friendship centres. Yellowknife, I didn't even think we had one, but we do have one, the Tree of Peace here. We are talking right across the board. When we talk about measurable outcomes, I will expand on that, as well. I am not okay with just giving even $100,000 to people and saying, "There you go. Give me your financial statement," but I also think that measurable outcomes don't have to be a 50-page document. It can be as simple as you keep your door open from 9:00 to 5:00, Monday to Friday, and you provide services to the public. There has to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This work is not being done alone. The Member is right; we need to do this with our Indigenous governments. This work has been at the intergovernmental council table that all Indigenous governments who have signed on to devolution are part of, and it's still open to other Indigenous governments who wish to sign on. This will not be a unilateral decision based on the GNWT.

I heard the Member's concerns about making sure that it is communicated properly. Out of respect for the Indigenous governments that sit at the intergovernmental council, Madam Chair, I will bring the...