David Ramsay

This isn’t to pick on the Department of Health and Social Services, but I’m wondering under whose authority is the Minister and the other departments. They seem to be placing employees at random without this budget having gone through the full scrutiny of the Regular Members of this House. There’s something fundamentally wrong with a process that allows the government to do this to employees without it getting fully aired in this public forum by the Members duly elected to the 16th Legislative Assembly.

I’d like to ask the Minister: who’s giving you the instructions to be placing employees? Is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As long as the cost-benefit analysis isn’t done after the fact, after this comes into effect — like the Deh Cho bridge, for example.

I’d like to get some reassurance from the Minister that before this becomes effective the government will come back to Regular Members and sit down with stakeholders in this area so we can work on this together and come up with solutions together rather than it just be implemented by the government.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Committee members expressed serious concerns with the proposed reduction to the homeownership repair program. Members noted that the reduction would impact the number of low- to moderate-income families being able to afford necessary repairs.

As community housing stocks increased through programs such as the Affordable Housing Initiative, repair programs are critical to maintaining the value of the housing stock and avoiding larger repair and replacement expenditures in the future. Members recognize that the corporation is committed to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to reiterate: I think community safety is of paramount importance. I want the Minister to tell me where the experience and the education and the professional credentials are at North Slave Correctional Centre so that people can deliver these programs effectively. I want to have some faith in those folks that are delivering these programs. If it’s a psychologist…. Like I said in my Member’s statement, it took three years to recruit a psychologist for that centre, and I don’t want this left to just anybody.

Interruption.

Mr. Speaker, if you get rid of the program delivery officers and the deputy warden of programs, I’m wondering what expertise there is in the sentence administrator position and the managers. What experience do these folks have in delivering programs that are going to rehabilitate inmates so that our communities and our families can be safe?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about programming at North Slave Correctional Centre. I believe that it is inconceivable that the Department of Justice would look to programming as a way and a means to appease the government’s reduction exercise.

The Northwest Territories has four times the national average in the areas of sexual assault and incidents of family violence. It is hard for me to comprehend why we would look to reduce program delivery officers at our largest correctional facility. It makes absolutely no sense. The government’s own strategic goals talk of safe...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Some Members raised the issue of the use of bundled contracts by the Housing Corporation. These contracts usually involve the supply, transportation and construction of housing units as part of the bids. Members indicated that this process has the potential to favour larger companies, as smaller contractors do not necessarily have the capacity to meet all of the requirements of the tender. Members suggest that the corporation consider breaking out the contracts to allow local contractors to bid on a portion of the required work.

The support of these programs is the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. The committee met with the Minister and his staff on April 9, 2008, to consider the department’s 2008–2009 Draft Main Estimates.

The committee noted that the total operating budget is $81.427 million. Committee members offered the following comments on issues arising out of the review of the 2008–2009 Draft Main Estimates, and for that, Mr. Chairman, I’m going to go to my honourable colleague Mr. Jackie Jacobson, deputy chair of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, our communities being safe should be of paramount importance to the government. I’ve heard from folks who work at North Slave Correctional Centre, and a couple of the words they use are “directionless,” “leaderless.” There’s no direction there when it comes to programming. If you’re going to carry out the removal of the deputy warden of programs and the two program delivery officers, it’s absolutely going to be directionless.

I’d like to ask the Minister: can he produce evidence that the expertise is in-house to deliver the programs on a frequent basis and on a professional basis?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Justice. This gets back to my Member’s statement, where I was speaking of the collapsing of the deputy warden position at North Slave Correctional Centre, which happens to be in my riding of Kam Lake, and the fact that that position was collapsed. Now it’s going to be the responsibility of the sentencing administrator. There’s been much talk about the program delivery officers at that facility as well being let go.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice: what are the department’s plans going forward for program...