Statements in Debates
Mr. Speaker, the department is actually currently developing an evaluation framework to assess the success of the campaign and to inform future direction on the program. I don’t have a timeline for it, but I will commit to getting you some additional information during this sitting so that we can have an idea when that evaluation framework will be in place and when we can actually expect to see results. Of course, I am happy to share any results that we come forward with, with committee and with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Not Us! program is actually quite a successful program. We have it in 20 out of the 33 communities. It starts with a $10,000 start-up and a $5,000 ongoing fee or ongoing allowance to help maintain the program. Right now we have enough money in the budget to cover the communities and there is no plan to increase the allocation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m not certain whether that program still exists in the Department of Justice. I don’t recall it, but it sounds like a really great idea. What I’ll do is talk to the department to see what existed in the past and whether or not something could be put in place, and I will certainly come and talk to the Member and committee to see if that’s something that we might be able to do in the future.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These community policing plans are actually an agreement between the RCMP and the community itself. They sit down and talk about what the priorities are and set some of their direction. I can’t tell you what every community policing plan says. There are 33 of them. I do know that in some communities, the communities have indicated that education and visits to the school are a priority, and that is in some of the community policing plans.
At this time, that’s not something we’re planning, but if committee were to ask us to take a look at that, we’re always open to have discussions with committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m not familiar with that particular program, but I would love to sit down with the Member and have him educate me on the program. As far as funding goes, it’s hard to commit funding when I have no idea what the program is. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I’m not sure I understand the question completely. The fuel in the tanks in the community was set on a fixed price in the community and we don’t bring more fuel in for most of these communities other than once a year. So there is no variation of price. The price in the tank is what we paid for it. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The petroleum products division works on a cost-recovery calculation. We don’t actually make profit on the fuel; we intend to actually cover the total cost. The price is determined by the product cost when we purchase it in the South, transportation costs to get it to whichever the 16 communities we provide fuel in, a sales commission that’s provided to a local vendor who adds that. Those commissions are determined based on an RFP process where they submit their potential costs, some O and M expenses, some taxes and a little bit of evaporation loss. It’s a complete cost...
I’d say that we’re absolutely going to be flexible and open. We have some of the most generous leave policies here in the Government of the Northwest Territories and we encourage our employees to maybe take some time to go participate in these types of events.
As Cabinet members, I know we’ve all had an opportunity to travel to the Sahtu and many of us did participate in the hand games when we were there previously. We do see the value of these types of activities and we encourage involvement. We will continue to encourage our employees to take advantage of these opportunities as they present...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The program that we’re designing is actually designed with the intent of helping new employees, as well as some existing employees, understand the cultures and reality of working in the Northwest Territories. It was designed in participation with a number of different Aboriginal groups in the Northwest Territories. As far as having it presented at something like the hand games, it’s not really designed for that. It’s designed for employees to help them understand the different cultures and the realities in the Northwest Territories.