Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a motion. I move that this committee defer consideration of the Department of Human Resources at this time.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. We will just allow a moment for the motion to circulate.
The motion I have before us here is in order and is not debatable. The motion is defeated.
---Defeated
Committee, 3-7, Human Resources, department summary, operations expenditure summary, $23.636 million. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Does committee agree that consideration of the Department of HR has been concluded?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. I’d like to thank the Minister here today. I’d like to thank our witnesses, Ms. Bassi-Kellett and Ms. Beard, for joining us today. Sergeant-at-Arms, if I can get you to escort the witnesses out of the House. Thank you.
As agreed upon by committee, we are going to continue discussions today with Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. With that, I’ll turn the floor over to Premier McLeod to see if he has any opening comments.
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Please proceed, Premier.
I am pleased to present the 2014-2015 Main Estimates for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.
The department’s main estimates propose an operations expenditures budget of $9.195 million, an increase of 5 percent from the 2013-2014 Main Estimates. This increase is largely attributed to $131,000 in forced growth for collective bargaining adjustments and $277,000 in investments to support the increased workload that will result from devolution. This includes assuming a lead role in lands negotiations at all Aboriginal rights negotiations in the Northwest Territories and coordinating the activities of the Intergovernmental Council on Land and Resource Management.
The department’s 2014-2015 Main Estimates also include the restatement of resources to reflect the transfer of the women’s advisory unit from the Department of Executive and the Aboriginal consultation unit from the Department of Justice.
The decision was made to transfer the senior advisor for the Status of Women position to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, as this position liaises with both the Northwest Territories and national Native Women’s Association and with the Northwest Territories and federal and provincial Status of Women councils. The senior advisor will also have the added benefit of working alongside experienced colleagues who are engaged in intergovernmental meeting preparation and planning.
The decision to transfer the Aboriginal consultation unit was made to better align with the department’s expertise in the area of Aboriginal rights and to coordinate the Government of the Northwest Territories duty to consult efforts with its cooperation and partnership-building efforts with Aboriginal governments. Although undeniably rooted in law, fulfilling the duty to consult is a key tool for building relationships between Aboriginal governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories.
That concludes my opening remarks. I look forward to the committee’s comments and questions.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Premier McLeod, do you have witnesses that you’d like to bring into the House today?
Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Premier. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you could please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.
Premier, if you could introduce your witnesses to the Chamber, please.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my right I have Martin Goldney, deputy minister of the Department of Intergovernmental Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations; and on my left I have Richard Robertson, director of policy, planning and management. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Mr. Robertson, Mr. Goldney, welcome back to the House. Committee, we’re going to open up to general comments.
Detail.
I’m hearing detail. Committee, 4.7 is the department summary. We’ll skip over that and we’ll return to that after consideration of the department’s activities.
Turning your attention to 4-8, information item, infrastructure investment summary. Any questions?
Agreed.
Seeing none, 4-10, information item, active position summary. Any questions? Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I’ll just start off that I know all our departments are really re-evaluating positions because of the committee’s concerns. I’d just like to know more about these 44 positions and exactly if there are any vacant ones there, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Premier McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are five vacant positions as of October 31st. Since that time we have staffed all of them except for one, which there is a job offer in progress, and another that is staffed on an acting basis. So, we’re pleased to say that we’ve staffed all five. Thank you.
Also, seeing an increase of two positions to Yellowknife headquarters, maybe they can detail what those positions are.
The first is a lands negotiator, which is incremental resource resulting from devolution. With the Government of the Northwest Territories now taking on the responsibility for Crown lands, there’s an increased requirement for this position as we are also the Aboriginal rights negotiators, including land. The second position is the coordinator of the Intergovernmental Council. It’s another incremental resource resulting from devolution. This will help us coordinate and support the activities of the Intergovernmental Council on Land and Resource Management and will be made up of all of the Aboriginal governments that have signed on to devolution and have land to manage, so we will be better able to have a coordinated management scheme for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Just in terms of decentralization, I guess, I would just like to ask the Minister a question about potential decentralization of these positions. Of course, I see them all in headquarters. As we move along, I know we’re still in discussions about phase 2 of decentralization, so I was wondering if there was any inkling or if there’s a need for having regional positions in this department. Thanks, Mr. Chair.
As we are in the process of starting to proceed with phase 3 of decentralization, as part of that we can look at it. In the past it was deemed more effective and efficient to keep the Department of Aboriginal Affairs’ positions here in Yellowknife because it’s a very small department. We need to make sure we’re well coordinated. We also have to share very limited resources. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Active position summary. Any questions?
Agreed.
Agreed. Page 4-13, corporate management, operations expenditures, $4.142 million. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I thought I had seen a larger number of increases over last year, but its $50,000. While I’m asking, maybe I can ask the Minister why there’s an increase of $50,000 over last year.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The main reason is because of forced growth, an increase of $36,000 for collective bargaining increases; there are some other adjustments for financial shared services and for TSC chargeback for the Technical Service Centre, and also an increase of $5,000 for devolution impacts. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Any other questions? Page 4-13, corporate management, operations expenditure summary, $4.142 million. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. My question is – really I don’t know if this belongs in this section or division or not – the Premier mentioned, in his opening remarks, coordinating the activities of the Intergovernmental Council on Land and Resource Management as part of the rationale for the increased budget.
I guess, to start off, would it be appropriate to ask questions here on that subject within this section or division? Is that the right division for this?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Premier.
Mr. Chair, I think there’s another section coming up that provides for it, but as far as the position, it was already dealt with, but I will leave it to you, Mr. Chair, to make the determination.
Mr. Bromley, would you prefer to wait?
I’d be happy to wait, Mr. Chair. I didn’t hear the Premier say which section, but I’d be happy to wait for the appropriate one. Of course, we haven’t passed the whole department, so I’d also be happy to wait until we go to the final.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Premier, for the record.
I guess I could wait until we approve the whole thing, but it’s when we get to intergovernmental relations, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. It’s 4-25, Mr. Bromley, for you to note when we get there.
Corporate management, operations expenditure summary, $4.142 million. Agreed?
Agreed.
Corporate management, grants and contributions, page 4-14, in the amount of $1.145 million. Agreed? Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have a question here with regards to the contributions for the Native Women’s Association and the Status of Women Council. I note that there was a small increase, certainly for the Status of Women Council, a very small increase in ’13-14 from ’12-13, and a bit of an increase in the same year for the Native Women’s Association, but the contributions have remained flat since then.
I’d like to know from the Minister, is there any policy which gives a cost of living increase or some sort of forced growth increase to these organizations year over year? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is no provision for cost of living increases. It’s approved on an annual basis.
Mr. Chair, to the Minister, I would like to know how we expect these two organizations to maintain the services and the programs that they provide when we don’t give them any kind of an increase. Every other department or every other aspect of this government deals with forced growth every year, but we’re not giving any kind of an increase due to forced growth for these two organizations. Can I get an explanation as to why not? Thank you.
This funding is consistent with the government’s policy on third-party accountability. There are different definitions of third party. I believe some portions or some groups are eligible for different increases, different categories. I will ask, through you, Richard to go into more detail, Mr. Chair.
