Cory Vanthuyne

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories engage the public and interested stakeholders during the development of post-devolution legislation and regulations and that a public process is needed for the notification and public comment on regulations. 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...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We heard from IGOs and co-drafters, technical working groups, and they were generally very pleased and appreciative of the opportunity to co-draft legislation, but then felt that this would be also a very good collaborative process when it comes to regulation-making.

It was our understanding, when putting the questions to the respective Ministers, that that was going to be their intention on the most part, at least with regard to some regulations. We see that as very well-meaning and productive, but this would be a motion that provides some degree of formality to that...

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. I think again you can predict where this is going. This motion clearly outlines some of the challenges that we faced while we were on the road when we were dealing or interacting with different stakeholders. The two primary instances are one, that they felt that they needed to better understand what this process was about, so we feel that having a comprehensive briefing on the legislation process would be very good for those who are involved in the technical working groups from their particular regions; and then, secondly, time and time again, no matter where we went...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate everybody sharing their comments today. It just goes to show the importance of this bill. I want to not reiterate everybody's concerns, but I do want to say that, with well over 100 motions, I had the opportunity, as the chair, to observe the growth of this process and of this bill, from the time in which it was originally proposed, and I can tell you that, when we saw that originally, there was a lot of deep and dire concern from committee at that time.

There has been a willingness from the Minister and the department to come together with the committee on...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I think this is a motion that speaks for itself, but one of the experiences that we had was sometimes we were receiving plain language rather late. In some instances it was right at the day of us conducting a public hearing. In some cases, depending on the bill, we would receive plain language that came in the form of one document, and that would be fine, but then, when we would take a different bill on the road, we had plain language material for that particular bill that came in the form of five or six pieces of documents. There were times when the plain language...

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...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that for each legislative initiative, the Government of the Northwest Territories consider the need for the inclusion of preamble or purpose statement in the proposed bill and determine whether or not either is warranted, advising the standing committee of its decision and rationale at the legislative proposal stage. Thank you, Mr. Chair.