Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This clause of the bill brings about changes to the Land Titles Act, and I will just note from the Minister's opening remarks that it will increase fee rates in respect to the registration of certain instruments and caveats under the Land Titles Act. Is this related to the government's proposal for increasing land transfer fees or land transfer taxes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concluded its review of Bill 54, Standard Interest Rate Statutes Amendment Act, on August 7, with a public clause-by-clause review held at the Legislative Assembly building.

The committee received submissions from the public. The committee supports the government changes to adopt a standard interest rate that will be applied to all GNWT overdue receivables, and will lower the interest rates currently charged by the GNWT on overdue accounts. Individual Membership may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Environmental liability has been a subject of interest for the committee over the years reviewing the public accounts. Again, the transparency around these liabilities has improved year on year. We have recommended that the GNWT put this information on some sort of website or single portal so it's very clear what the environmental liabilities are, where they're located, and additional information that may be relevant to an interested member of the public. The Treasury Board of Canada has a similar digital repository for the environmental liabilities of the Government of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the sources that we often look at to understand public sector accounting and how governments report on their own finances is annual reports from the C.D. Howe Institute. That is not our sole authoritative source, but it is a very good one. They have done a lot of work on this, and they grade different provinces and territories in the quality of how they are reporting their public accounts. Unfortunately, the GNWT usually receives around a D. PEI got worse. They have a D-. It is imperative that we find better ways to improve.

A consolidated budget is one of those...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will just point out that, in our ongoing quest for more plain-language documents when it comes to very complex public-sector accounting such as the public accounts of the Government of the Northwest Territories, we have always pushed for better ways to show how much the government plans to spend, how much they have actually spent, and everything in between. In our conversations this year, the committee noted that a consolidated budget would be a good way to get this around, and the comptroller general at the time indicated that the GNWT believed it was in a position to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This marks the final review of public accounts for the Standing Committee on Government Operations in the life of the 18th Assembly. Over the years, the standing committee has gained a great deal of knowledge about the public accounts process and has developed its own best practices for dealing with public accounts. This is a really fascinating area of legislatures in Canada and around the world, and there is a great deal of knowledge to learn. It's our hope that some of our knowledge and experience will be transferred on to future Assemblies, and we will be able to see...

Thank you to the Minister for that clarification. The Minister hasn't looked at this. Has any analysis been done on it, not just on whether it is for a GNWT project, but just on the viability of the building as a commercial development? The GNWT rents space from this development corporation. Is there any reason why they are not renting space in this particular asset?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recent weeks, there has been media reporting about the demolition of the Bellanca Building in downtown Yellowknife. This has been part of our skyline for many years, and many residents have been concerned about tearing down what seems to be a viable asset and whether or not there are options to convert it to, some of the ideas that have been brought forward, student housing, a university campus, or transitional housing or low-income housing. I would like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if the GNWT has considered the Bellanca Building as an asset for any of its...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Department of Finance provide the standing committee with the opportunity to review and provide comment on the platform and content used for the public disclosure of contaminated sites prior to the finalization of this work. Thank you, Mr. Chair.