Floyd Roland

Mr. Chairman, as the government of the Northwest Territories, while not in the 16th Assembly, we know from past experience in the last government that when systems fail, they can cause havoc in how we do business and how things are carried out. This FIS system is a very old platform. We’ve been nursing it along to keep it functional, but we’re running out of people who actually have experience with the program that’s written, and we’re having to do this now for the integrity of our mainframe.

Mr. Speaker, let’s not mix the words of one response with another. We know instructions have been given to departments to meet their targets. Instructions have not been given to departments — let’s separate that now; instructions have not been given to departments — to begin reductions April 1. We have not made that decision at this level. We haven’t brought those forward as part of a business plan as of yet. Until we get that level of approval, we can’t be going out and giving that direction to the public service.

What does happen as a normal course of business, for example, Mr. Speaker, is...

Mr. Speaker, in responding to the Member’s question, he also stated in his Member’s statement about the planning and timing. For the record, let’s put it on this table the fact that in a consensus-style government, I have agreed with Members that we would make a budget happen by May–June. That reduces the amount of time we can go back and forth. So that is problematic in the way of trying to do business in a new fashion.

As to the specific area of the department the deputy minister is reviewing, it is the process we are following. Because, for example, Mr. Speaker, as a government we’re working...

Mr. Chairman, the work that we’re undergoing for the 16th Assembly — looking at dealing with the fiscal environment we’re in, knowing we need to cap the growth, reduce our overall expenditures, and try to find dollars for reinvestment — is going to cause us to look long and hard and deep at how we do business. That work is starting. Again, we’ll be working with Members and coming up with recommendations that we can bring forward to a budget process.

I did receive that letter. I am reviewing what we may be able to do. Our work is in this forum. I have had contact with the president of the UNW and will continue to have contact with him as we develop our plan.

At this point I haven't responded to that letter. Once we come up with a better plan and details of that and Members have looked at that, I can sit down and provide a briefing to their executive.

The capital infrastructure piece is one, yes, that we agree needs to be seriously looked at and to make some adjustments, possibly a complete revamping. For example, instead of doing a combined O&M and capital infrastructure project, is it more effective if we separate the two so that contractors have enough advance time to bid on a program, to get materials sent up and delivered into those communities in a time frame that allows for summer construction, not winter construction? That review needs to happen.

We’ve got together the Cabinet Infrastructure Committee and we’ve got the correspondence...

No, we have not given direction to begin the reductions in the front line on April 1st. In fact, our interim appropriation is one that will keep us going at the existing levels.

Mr. Chairman, the process we used was, as Members highlighted, using one-third of the amount we would normally use during a fiscal year. The reason there are some areas of going over would be, for example, if we’re going to enter leases for facilities or renew any of our existing leases through, for example, Public Works and Services. They have to enter into agreements for a full year, and it would be difficult to try to do a month-by-month process. Some of the contracts, as-and-when contracts, as we go out to people for work during the summer into the year require an annual appropriation. For...

Mr. Speaker, we will be measured, careful in the way we approach this, and I’ve laid out a number of things that are under consideration.

When we look at the options that are before us, there’s the impact of the delivery of programs and services to the people that are out there expecting the delivery that we say we will provide, our employees who deliver those programs, looking at vacancies, looking at attrition, looking at transfer assignments that can happen — all those tools that we will be incorporating as we proceed forward.

But I must say, as difficult as it is, the unfortunate reality is...

Mr. Chairman, as Mrs. Groenewegen has pointed out, the interim appropriation is one where it will give us time to work on our main estimates process and give us the time to do a proper review of the steps we would like to take as the 16th Assembly.

The O&M as highlighted is fairly straightforward, as the Member has pointed out, in capturing what we require to run for the three months of this interim appropriation.

The capital plan is one where it is different. Initially a plan went to the departments, requesting what would be required in a full year, looking at the timing of our process, so...