Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re all very proud of our NWT artisans; artists of many different mediums, designers, craftspersons. Certainly the Minister of ITI uses any opportunity he can to promote our arts and crafts industry to the world. We had a lovely example of that earlier today.

As the agent of the GNWT who promotes tourism for us, the organization NWT Tourism should also be promoting and supporting NWT artists and craftspersons. It would seem logical that they would use their website to do that promotion.

After I was contacted by a constituent on this issue, I took a look at the NWT...

Thanks for the information. I’m glad to hear that the new system is going to be able to provide more information.

One of the things that wasn’t mentioned, two things I guess, two questions I have here, one is it’s one thing to have the information, but it’s another thing to have the staff to do the analysis and to do the evaluation of the information. So I would ask again whether or not the department has the capacity, the human resource capacity to do that.

The other question I have has to do with the term “accountability framework.” I roughly understand what it is, but it’s one thing to have...

Thank you, Mr. Guy. Anything further, Mr. Bromley?

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you please escort the witnesses in?

Minister Lafferty, would you please introduce your witnesses for the record?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple of questions in this section. I want to start off with I referenced in my opening remarks the extensive review that was done by the Standing Committee on Government Operations in the previous Assembly and the recommendations in the report that they produced were many. That was the review of the Official Languages Act. Their recommendations have yet to be acted on, really, by the department.

I noted in the Minister’s opening remarks he mentions that the Official Languages Act will be amended to eliminate the Official Languages Board, and that is one thing...

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Anything further, Mr. Bromley?

Thank you, Minister Lafferty. Do you have any witnesses you wish to bring into the Chamber? Minister Lafferty.

Thanks to the Minister for that. I’m really glad to hear that it’s on the radar, that this is an issue that is being addressed to a certain extent. I guess I would like to encourage the department to be more demanding in what they ask the education authorities to do.

As I mentioned when we talked about the Auditor General’s report some months ago, I think there is a need for the department to be a bit more autocratic and demanding in the things that… The department as a central body should demand certain things of the board and this is one of them where I don’t think the board should have any...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Guy.

Does committee agree we have concluded the Department of Public Works and Services?