Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t indicate that the program review office was an external, I said it was a means of view and that’s what it is. The program review office is designed to review or intended to review programs and services delivered by the GNWT, and it is a source for review. So that was my statement, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I’d say that that’s one of the first things they’re looking at, especially in times of passive restraint or when we’re trying to make sure that we have the dollars to deliver programs. We need to make sure that every dollar we spend is being spent efficiently and effectively, so deputy heads would be pushing that pressure down into the bureaucracy to make sure the people are utilizing the resources to the best benefit. We have a lot of programs and services we have to deliver here in the Government of the Northwest Territories. The vast majority of our dollars are going to salary...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s done on a regular basis by the individual departments themselves. They always have to look inwards and make sure that the services that are provided are being met and that they have the staff complement to do that. The Department of Human Resources does offer advice and guidance with respect to organizational design and workloads and work flow, but at the end of the day, ultimately, it’s the responsibility of every department and the deputy head to do that analysis and make sure that analysis is done.

As a note, I think in the last vacancy report that was provided...

As I indicated previously, there is an investigation and research being done into this particular case. It is my understanding that there have been discussions with insurance companies and other individuals involved so the cost can be covered.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve done a number of upgrades to tank farms around the Northwest Territories, and one of the things that we’ve done is put a secondary safety valve on the ones that we’re responsible for. Unfortunately, at Fort Good Hope the two valves failed and we ended up with an oil spill of 11,500 litres. Fortunately, it was all contained within the berm so that there is no environmental damage. It has been cleaned up. The department and its partners are doing research, an investigation into the valves that leaked. We had sent out staff to all of our tank farms to physically take a look at...

I have indicated that we have no problem doing that; however, doing one for a public service of 5,400 employees might be a little excessive. We might be more interested in doing certain program areas. That has been done in the past and we’d be happy to do that again. On top of that, we have competent staff that are doing it on a regular basis, we have the program review office and we have the Legislature. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I think we’ve got highly competent professionals within the public service. We’ve got HR professionals, we’ve got technical analysts, we’ve got people who understand the business of government and do a regular risk, review and assessment to the services that we provide. Deputy heads are accountable and, at the end of the day, we bring the budget before this House, which includes all position counts, and the MLAs and the Ministers have an opportunity to talk about the positions, where they’re located and the types of works they do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we already have the program review office which has reviewed different divisions and different sections and different functions, so they can provide us advice on eliminations if they think they’re necessary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member is absolutely correct; deputy ministers are incredibly busy. But in every structure, as everybody would know, there is a delegation of responsibilities and there are ADMs, directors, managers and line supervisors. All of those individuals are responsible for ensuring that staff is adequately resourced and that they have work to do. When they don’t have work to do, that’s an analysis that has to be shared up the chain of command so that the individuals at the higher levels can make informed decisions.

With respect to individuals in jobs that may no longer be required, we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes.