Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the Office of the Northwest Territories Languages Commissioner Annual Report 2010-2011 and commends it to the House.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations met on May 24, 2012, to review the Northwest Territories Language Commissioner’s Annual Report for 2010-2011. The committee thanks the Languages Commissioner, Ms. Sarah Jerome, and the former Languages Commissioner, Ms. Shannon Gullberg, for their attendance at the public hearing.
In 2010-2011 the Languages Commissioner received approximately 100 inquiries and dealt with three complaints under the Northwest Territories Official Languages Act. The standing committee was concerned that the continuing low number of formal complaints may be due to residents’ lack of awareness of their official languages rights and of the complaints process.
However, the committee notes that the report lists several additional concerns brought to the Commissioner which she either referred as outside her mandate or resolved through mediation. The committee encourages the Commissioner to provide more detailed information on complaints and concerns dealt with that did not go through the complaints process and inquiries in her next report, including information for past years so that trends can be tracked over time.
In view of her experience with complaints and concerns the Languages Commissioner recommended that the government should ensure that members of the public service understand, honour and respect provisions of the Official Languages Act. The committee concurs.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories report to this House on measures taken in 2011-2012 and plan actions for 2012-2013 to ensure that the public service understands, respects and honours the provisions of the Official Languages Act.
The committee further encourages the government to use the services of the Languages Commissioner to make presentations and promote her office within the public service.
At the public hearing, Members asked the Commissioner to expand on a statement in her previous report that many of our Dene people are not comfortable in dealing with the complaints. The Commissioner suggested that this attitude might be the result of silencing the Aboriginal people during the residential school era, especially where Dene and Inuvialuit children were forbidden to speak their languages.
The committee recognizes that a legislative complaints process may be intimidating, and encourages the Commissioner to make the process as user friendly and culturally sensitive as possible. Members agree with a further recommendation from the Commissioner, regarding sensitivity to terminology such as the word regime that may have negative connotations for residential school survivors.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
that the Government of the Northwest Territories refrain from the use of the word regime in documents concerning official languages;
that the Government of the Northwest Territories consult with residential school survivors and Aboriginal language communities on other terminology that may act as a barrier for Aboriginal people in asserting their rights under the Official Languages Act; and
that the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that public servants are aware of sensitive terminology in speaking and writing in the area of official languages.
Now I will pass the floor to my colleague, the deputy chair of the committee and Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 2010-2011 budget for the office of the Languages Commissioner was $220,000, up by $77,000 over the previous year. Approximately $35,000 remained unspent because an administrative assistant position was not filled until close to the end of the fiscal year.
At the public hearing, the Commissioner noted that additional funds were received to create and publish a directory of interpreters and translators for all official languages. While some funds again remained unspent, Ms. Jerome said that all of the outstanding surplus would be taken up in the first quarter of 2012-13, with the costs of publishing and distribution of this directory.
Since 2004, the promotion of official languages has been the responsibility of the Minister for Official Languages. However, it is Ms. Jerome’s role to promote the office of the Languages Commissioner, the rights, status and privileges of official languages speakers pursuant to the Official Languages Act, and her availability to answer questions or to investigate complaints.
The office of the Languages Commissioner is accessible through its website, a toll-free phone line, and an office in Inuvik. The office is also promoted through radio advertisements in all official languages, the distribution of promotional items, media interviews and by Ms. Jerome’s attendance at public functions and summer assemblies.
The committee considers the website a critical communications tool and urges the Commissioner to make every effort to keep it lively, current and informative, in all official languages. Members also noted that the toll-free phone line is presently answered in English and suggested that the Commissioner investigate technology that would allow a caller to access the office in all official languages.
A major theme of the Languages Commissioner’s report, stemming from her travels to communities, is concern with the decreasing availability of trained and certified interpreter-translators for Aboriginal official languages in the Northwest Territories. The older generation of well-trained and experienced interpreter-translators is beginning to retire and they are not being replaced.
It is effectively impossible for the Official Languages Commissioner to promote her office without these services. This concern is what motivated the Commissioner to undertake the interpreter-translator directory project.
Under the Official Languages Act, the Languages Commissioner is empowered to make recommendations for necessary or desirable changes to the act as part of her annual report. In her latest report, the Languages Commissioner commented extensively on the recommendations of the 2008-2009 Review of the Official Languages Act by the 16th Assembly Standing Committee on Government Operations. That review recommended the creation of designated areas for service provision in Aboriginal official languages, where the languages are indigenous.
The Commissioner recommended that the government move forward with the committee’s recommendations, but consider that not all speakers of Aboriginal official languages reside in their traditional territories. She also noted that residents must often travel outside their home areas to receive services.
At the public hearing, the Commissioner suggested using non-traditional means, such as audio or video conferencing, to provide services in official languages for residents who reside in or travel to the Northwest Territories locations outside their indigenous language area. The Languages Commissioner also believes the government and the Legislative Assembly should have a positive obligation, in legislation, to protect as well as promote official languages. A number of these recommendations were made in the Commissioner’s previous report.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations very much appreciates the Commissioner’s input. As required under the Official Languages Act, the committee will begin its five-year review of the act in February of 2013. Members intend to review and update the previous recommendations for legislative change. Pending this review, the committee wishes to obtain the government’s response to the legislative recommendations of the Commissioner.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories review and respond to the Languages Commissioner’s recommendation’s for legislative change, namely recommendations three and four on page 20 of the 2010-2011 Annual Report.
Mr. Speaker, I would now like to return the reading of the report to the chair of the committee, Mr. Nadli, Member for Deh Cho. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is grateful for Ms. Jerome’s deep commitment to official languages in the Northwest Territories. Members look forward to working together with the Languages Commissioner in the coming year to ensure that NWT residents’ official language rights are respected and honoured.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the Office of the Northwest Territories Languages Commissioner, 2010-2011 Annual Report.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Nadli.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4), and move Committee Report 3-17(3) into Committee of the Whole for today. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada on the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly and commends it to the House.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations held its public review on the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada on March 26 and 27, 2012.
The standing committee thanks the Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Michael Ferguson, and his staff for their work in preparing the report and assisting the committee with its review. The committee also thanks the vice-president of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission, the president of the NWT Housing Corporation, the NWT comptroller general, the deputy ministers of Finance, Transportation, Public Works and Services, and Education, Culture and Employment and their staff for their attendance and participation.
The office of the Auditor General of Canada is a vital source of independent and authoritative advice for the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.
The Auditor General conducts two main kinds of audits in the Northwest Territories: financial audits and performance audits. Financial audits answer the question: Is the government keeping proper accounts and records and presenting its financial information fairly? Performance audits answer broader questions: Are programs being run with due regard for economy, efficiency and environmental impact? Does the government have the means to measure their effectiveness?
Since 2006, the Auditor General has conducted six performance audits in the Northwest Territories. Completed audits include:
workers’ compensation, June 2006;
public housing and home ownership programs, February 2008;
contracting for goods and services, June 2009;
education in the Northwest Territories, May 2010;
health programs and services, March 2011;
management of the Deh Cho Bridge Project, March 2011.
A performance audit of income security programs is currently underway. The Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Government Operations is mandated to review the reports of the Auditor General of Canada and make recommendations to the Government of the Northwest Territories. The committee’s goal is to help the Legislative Assembly hold the government accountable. Members look for efficiencies, best practices and gaps, with the intent of improving services to the people of the Northwest Territories. The objective information and advice of the Auditor General are essential tools in Members’ scrutiny of government spending and performance.
The status report conveys the results of a follow-up audit which examined the government’s progress in addressing selected recommendations from the first four of six completed performance audits. Audit work was completed on August 31, 2011, and a report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on February 14, 2012.
The audit focussed on the implementation of recommendations concerning:
administration of the claims process of the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission;
management of public housing and home ownership programs, and the strategic planning process for the NWT Housing Corporation;
contract administration with the departments of Finance, Transportation and Public Works and Services; and
program monitoring and reporting by the Department of Education, Culture and Employment.
All the program areas covered in this audit have an impact on the lives of NWT residents, in terms of our economy, society and quality of life.
The standing committee is pleased to report that overall, the Auditor General addressed the GNWT’s progress in acting on the selected recommendations as satisfactory. The committee will review progress in each of the areas audited later in this report.
First, however, Members wished to express concern over the Auditor General’s observation, stated in the preface, that the Government of the Northwest Territories faces serious barriers to effective management across programs.
Effective program management requires that:
performance indicators and program standards are established;
performance is measured and monitored against standards; and
issues are identified and action taken to improve programs.
The Auditor General found three key barriers to sound program management, not just for one program or department, but for most of the GNWT programs and organizations over the last six years. These barriers are:
inadequate information to manage programs and make decisions;
insufficient monitoring of third-party program delivery; and
an absence of detailed action plans clearly setting out how and when organizations intend to implement recommendations made in the audit reports.
The Auditor General found that the GNWT’s ability to manage its programs is hampered by a lack of data and by the poor quality of the data collected. As stated in the report, the Auditor General believes GNWT senior managers realize the importance of gathering high quality information on a regular basis. However, pressures to deliver as many programs as possible to as many clients as possible predictably result in pouring scarce dollars and person years into programming instead of into databases, performance monitoring and program evaluation.
The committee understands the pressure on the government to “do anything, but do something.” Members consider, however, that there is little sense in putting more money into a program without good evidence that the resources will achieve objectives.
The Auditor General concludes and the committee concurs that GNWT organizations must make a sustained effort to improve the quantity and quality of data collected.
Almost half of GNWT expenditures are allocated to third parties through grants and contributions. Third parties, including, among others, health, education and housing authorities, deliver most services in regions and communities.
The standing committee supports this highly decentralized model of program delivery. Members believe that local and regional organizations, with local and regional boards, are in the best position to understand and respond to residents’ needs in a geographically vast and culturally varied territory.
The committee agrees, nevertheless, that GNWT organizations that delegate program delivery to third parties should regularly monitor their performance. This is the only way to make sure the third parties are following GNWT policies and program standards, including standards for data collection and reporting.
The committee, therefore, concurs with the Auditor General that the GNWT must consistently monitor third-party program delivery.
In spite of GNWT commitments to implement recommendations of previous audits, the Auditor General often did not find detailed plans showing how and when the government would take action. Without consistent action plans, it is difficult for the standing committee to assess the government’s progress in implementing agreed recommendations.
When issues have been identified by the Auditor General and the GNWT has committed to address them, the GNWT organizations must provide detailed plans, with actions and time frames for implementing the agreed recommendations.
The barriers to effective program management identified by the Auditor General are government-wide. They must be addressed if the GNWT is to improve programs and services to residents within the current framework of fiscal restraint. The standing committee is well aware that the government cannot report inefficient, ineffective or inequitable programs and services.
Members point out that the Premier is publically mandated to “increase and improve interdepartmental planning, coordination and communication in support of cross-departmental goals and priorities.” Further, one of the 17th Assembly’s cross-departmental government goals is “effective and efficient government.”
The committee also notes that the audits covered in the status report were not financial audits, typically referred to the Department of Finance, but the performance audits, similar to the program reviews for the program review office within the Department of Executive.
The standing committee, therefore, recommends that the Premier and the Department of Executive review the February 2012 Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada and report back to the committee on how the three GNWT-wide barriers to effective program management identified in the report will be strategically addressed.
The committee wishes to stress, again, that the Premier and the Department of Executive should play a major role in coordinating the response of the GNWT-wide findings to the Auditor General’s performance audits and addressing systemic issues.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Premier and the Department of Executive:
review the February 2012 Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada;
coordinate the government’s response; and
propose solutions to overcome the three government-wide barriers to effective program management identified by the Auditor General.
Members recently received confirmation in the House from the Premier that the Department of Executive will coordinate the response to government-wide findings of the Auditor General’s performance audits. The committee understands that the Department of Executive will work with the Department of Finance and the Refocusing Government Committee of Cabinet to review the report and propose solutions to the identified barriers. Members look forward to receiving the results.
Now I will pass the floor to my colleague, the deputy chair of the committee and Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Ms. Bisaro.
Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General’s progress assessment took into account how long government organizations had to implement recommendations and how difficult the recommendations were to implement. The Auditor General cautions that a rating of satisfactory does not mean complete implementation. Similarly, a rating of unsatisfactory does not mean there were no improvements.
While the standing committee is pleased that enough progress has been made for the Auditor General to give the government an overall rating of satisfactory, there is much room for improvement. The audited organizations were considered to have made satisfactory progress in nine of 14 recommendations and one key issue reviewed for this audit, which amounts to a grade of only 60 percent. The committee considers this a bare pass, especially in light of the cautions mentioned earlier.
The Auditor General’s follow-up audit found that satisfactory progress had been made in the following areas:
The Workers Safety and Compensation Commission improved its processing of workers’ claims;
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation improved its management of home ownership programs;
The Department of Finance strengthened its contracting policy framework; and
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is improving its monitoring of education councils and adult education programming.
The standing committee commends the organizations for these efforts and encourages them to continue.
The Auditor General found unsatisfactory progress in the following areas:
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation has not improved its monitoring of local housing organizations and it has not developed a strategic plan that identifies priorities and links actions to its mandate;
The Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works and Services have taken steps to improve their contract administration. Nevertheless, preventable errors were found in one-third of the contracts audited; and most seriously
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has made unsatisfactory progress in inspecting daycare facilities.
Members were horrified to learn that some ECE-inspected daycare centres were not following health and safety requirements. Worse, the department has no set procedure for following up when inspections identify problems. In the words of the Auditor General, “Without proper follow-up on instances of noncompliance, children are at risk.”
Matters such as a blocked fire exit, chemicals for cleaning left out, or an uncovered electrical outlet may seem trivial on a day-to-day basis, but they can have tragic consequences. The committee regards the safety of children in government-inspected facilities as a sacred trust. There is no acceptable excuse for safety deficiencies in the protection of our children.
The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the NWT and Nunavut ensures compensation and pensions are awarded to injured workers or their dependents under the Workers’ Compensation Act. In 2010, the WSCC registered 2,233 claims for incidences in the Northwest Territories. The Auditor General identified the administration of the claims process as a key issue for review in the follow-up audit.
In the sample reviewed by the Auditor General, the WSCC made timely decisions and payments for approximately 90 percent of claims, and payments were accurate. The commission has improved its claims processing since 2006 with mandatory plain language training for claims officers, an on-line training program for new employees and an on-line reference system for standards and procedures.
It was a pleasure to hear the commission’s vice-president, Ms. Gloria Badari, say at the public hearing, “Service to our clients is our top priority.” In 2006, the 15th Assembly’s Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight identified a bureaucratic, corporate culture as an underlying obstacle to service improvement. The WSCC clearly has worked hard to meet or exceed the Auditor General’s recommendations and the corporate culture has been reoriented to customer service.
The standing committee is also pleased to see that the WSCC is also continuing to work on service improvements. The Auditor General reported that the WSCC is now working to establish a complete quality assurance and control framework with standards and procedures to ensure claimants are treated consistently, fairly and equally. In 2011, WSCC developed and approved an organization-wide service standard and plan to implement them in 2012.
At the time of the follow-up audit, the WSCC did not have an established process for approving and communicating changes to procedures and standards, a mechanism for reporting errors to senior management, or a comprehensive mechanism to measure and monitor performance. The Auditor General recommended improvement in this area and the committee concurs.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission:
develop and implement a more complete and consolidated quality assurance and control framework for the processing of claims;
establish a process for approving and communicating changes to its claims processing procedures and standards; and
report in detail on its actions in this area to the Legislative Assembly by the end of fiscal year 2012-13.
The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is mandated under the Housing Corporation Act to ensure there is a sufficient supply of affordable, adequate and suitable housing to meet the needs of NWT residents. Its operations are highly decentralized. The NWT Housing Corporation delivers home ownership programs through five district offices, while public housing is delivered by 23 independent local housing organizations.
Of all the matters reviewed to date by the Auditor General, the standing committee deems the fair provision of adequate housing to residents in need as a concern second only to the safety of children. The committee finds the number of outstanding deficiencies listed by the Auditor General for this agency to be unacceptable.
Members are aware that the Housing Corporation has experienced organizational upheaval since the 2008 Audit Report. The corporation had to manage the unexpected $150 million upsurge in construction and repair of homes resulting from Canada’s economic stimulus spending to counter the recession. In the same relatively brief period, the public housing rent scale was transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and then transferred back to the Housing Corporation.
Under the circumstances, it is not surprising, but it is regrettable, that the Housing Corporation was unable to implement many of the Auditor General’s recommendations. The Housing Corporation’s results in this audit provide examples of all three of the government-wide barriers identified by the Auditor General. Now that other major issues are receding and the Housing Corporation has new corporate leadership, the committee expects the Housing Corporation to move quickly to remedy the deficiencies identified by the Auditor General.
On the positive side, the Auditor General rated the Housing Corporation’s progress in the management of the Homeownership Program as satisfactory. The Housing Corporation has evaluated its Housing Choices Program and taken steps to ensure that outstanding mortgage receivables are collected. The corporation has also improved its oversight of home ownership assistance to ensure that policies and procedures are followed.
The committee is glad to hear of these improvements. Members, however, are not entirely satisfied with the Housing Corporation’s progress in collecting its mortgage receivables. In 2007, the Housing Corporation stopped offering mortgages to low-income clients and introduced its Housing Choices Homeownership Program. This left the corporation with a significant number of clients who still owed money on mortgages provided under the older program.
In the earlier 2008 audit, the Auditor General found that 81 percent of Housing Corporation mortgages were in arrears. The follow-up audit found that the Housing Corporation had taken the following steps:
introducing a repayment options plan;
engaging legal counsel to issue demand letters; and
contacting all clients with repayable mortgages.
By April 2011, 150 of 468 clients chose a repayment option. Committee agrees that the steps taken represent progress, but notes that only one-third of the clients had chosen a repayment option as of last year. The Government of the Northwest Territories and its agencies need every dollar of the amounts owing that they can reasonably receive. The president of the Housing Corporation also considers collection rates lower than acceptable.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the NWT Housing Corporation:
continue its effort to collect mortgage receivables; and
report annually to this House on the number of clients who have chosen a repayment option, the total dollar amount of repayments and the total amount still outstanding as of April 1st of each year, starting with the data as of April 2012.
The Auditor General rated the corporation’s progress in two other important areas as unsatisfactory: monitoring of local housing organizations and development of a strategic plan.
The Housing Corporation’s unsatisfactory progress in monitoring local housing organizations comprises what are, in the committee’s view, several serious deficiencies. Lack of annual assessments of LHOs, insufficient monitoring of public housing application assessments for compliance with policies, and inadequate reporting of public housing condition ratings
The Housing Corporation has universal partnership agreements with local housing organizations which represent the LHOs, which require the LHOs to follow Housing Corporation policies and procedures. Under these agreements, the Housing Corporation is responsible for yearly assessments and the LHOs are required to provide annual audited financial statements and quarterly financial and administrative reports.
The standing committee was not pleased to learn that the Housing Corporation has flouted its own agreements with LHOs. The follow-up audit found that the Housing Corporation has not conducted any annual assessments of LHOs for policy compliance, nor does it have a strategy for doing so. The corporation says it does not have the capacity to conduct these assessments.
Instead, since 2008 the Housing Corporation has directed district offices to enhance their monitoring and reporting of LHO activities to ensure compliance with policies. In January 2011 the Housing Corporation finalized forms to gather activity data, but did not provide guidance to district offices on when and how often forms are to be completed. In the two district offices the Auditor General’s staff visited, forms had been completed for two of 13 LHOs and partially completed for another two.
Annual assessments of operations are a key requirement of the corporation’s universal partnership agreements with LHOs. The Auditor General notes that by not conducting the required annual assessments, the Housing Corporation has lost the opportunity to have a structured and scheduled way to consistently and thoroughly monitor the LHOs.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass the reading of the report to my committee colleague, the Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Auditor General examined a representative sample of 47 public housing applications in four LHOs visited. Only 36 percent had been assessed according to key procedural requirements. While some of these discrepancies may be minor, the committee is concerned about the credibility of the public housing allocation process. Applications must be consistently evaluated according to the Housing Corporation policies and procedures by all LHOs, or people will not believe the process is fair.
In 2010, the Housing Corporation began developing a territorial housing information management system which would require LHOs to electronically record applications, point-rating forms and arrears checking. This new centralized system was expected to be operational by April 2012. At the public hearing, the corporation’s representative said the system represents a quantum leap in the Housing Corporation’s ability to monitor LHOs. The Auditor General agreed that this is a positive step but pointed out that the Housing Corporation still does not have a clear picture of the delivery of the public housing program, including LHO compliance and policies and consistency of delivery among LHOs.
The Housing Corporation has also modernized administrative manuals for the LHOs. The manuals, which had not been updated since the 1990s, were to be released in mid-April and made available on-line. Finally, resources were added through the business planning process to improve training and workshops for LHOs.
The committee hopes that these measures will enable the Housing Corporation to report that they are fully implementing the Auditor General’s 2008 recommendation on the regular monitoring and documentation of the public housing allocation process before the end of fiscal year.
The Housing Corporation is responsible for managing public housing and reporting on its condition. The Auditor General found that the unit condition ratings were being completed annually but there was no consolidated system to capture condition rating information. Further, the Housing Corporation was not conducting random inspections to confirm the LHO condition ratings.
The corporation agreed with the concerns expressed by the Auditor General. At the public hearing the president of the Housing Corporation said that this February the Housing Corporation implemented a new process for inspecting units, training inspectors, and monitoring and reporting on unit condition ratings. The new process provides support and training for those completing unit condition ratings. Monitoring and verification of the condition ratings is now taking place through the use of random inspections. Condition ratings will also be linked year over year to help identify major changes during the capital planning process.
In addition, the corporation plans to complete the replacement of its outdated maintenance management operating system, MMOS, in 2012. The new system will improve management and reporting capabilities and be integrated with the Housing Corporation’s financial systems.
The committee is pleased to hear that the corporation is starting to take measures to improve the consistency and accuracy of public housing condition ratings. However, Members are concerned at the length of time it has taken for the work to begin in this area.
The Auditor General noted, finally, that the Housing Corporation has not been monitoring or reporting publicly on the condition of its public housing, either in its annual reports or in separate reports. As of August 31, 2011, the Housing Corporation had not tabled an annual report in the Legislative Assembly since 2007-2008. The corporation was, therefore, noncompliant with both the Housing Corporation Act and the Financial Administration Act. The committee considers it unacceptable for a government funded agency to ignore the law.
The 2008-2009 Annual Report on the NWT Housing Corporation was tabled in February. The Housing Corporation president committed to tabling the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 annual reports during this session of the Legislative Assembly. The Auditor General recommended that the GNWT should prepare and submit annual reports to the Minister in a timely manner. The committee concurs and includes this advice in the following recommendation on monitoring of the local housing organizations.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
That the NWT Housing Corporation meet its obligations for consistent and thorough monitoring of local housing organizations under the universal partnership agreements, either by funding the resources to conduct annual assessments of operations or by changing the agreements to specify some other form of structured or scheduled monitoring with a follow-up in cases of noncompliance.
That the NWT Housing Corporation improve its monitoring of and support of local housing organizations and allocating public housing to ensure all applications are consistently point-rated and adequate documentation is on file to support allocation decisions within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
That the NWT Housing Corporation improve its monitoring, verification and consolidation of public housing unit condition ratings, in order to obtain a complete picture of the condition of its public housing portfolio, within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
That the NWT Housing Corporation fulfill its statutory responsibility to ensure that the information on the condition of its public housing is publicly available by preparing and submitting annual reports to the Minister for tabling in this House in a timely manner, with all previous years’ reports submitted by the end of the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
The Auditor General concluded in 2008, that the NWT Housing Corporation would benefit from a strategic plan in dealing with issues such as budgetary restraints, arrears and vacant units. The Auditor General suggested, and the committee agrees, that a strategic plan should include:
a clearly stated vision for the organization;
clearly defined stages for realizing the vision;
specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-limited expected outcomes;
high level direction or means to be pursued; and
financial and human resources to put the plan into effect.
In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General assessed the corporation’s progress on finalizing its strategic plan as unsatisfactory. The corporation had issued a Framework for Action 2008-2011 in response to the 2008 recommendation, but this was described as an action plan and part of the strategic planning process rather than strategic plan.
In April 2012 the corporation issued a Building for the Future: Northern Solutions for Northern Housing, subtitled A Strategic Framework for Housing in the Northwest Territories. The document does not contain a detailed plan or clearly defined stages for accomplishing the Housing Corporation’s goals.
Since that time, the corporation has taken some initial steps in implementing its strategic priorities and has improved its annual performance measures reporting. While the Standing Committee on Government Operations would like to see the corporation take a more complete and comprehensive approach to strategic planning, Members are aware that the organization still has much work to do to remedy the other deficiencies identified by the Auditor General. The committee would not want the corporation to devote scarce resources to the production of more paper, rather than ensuring more and better housing for Northerners.
The Auditor General recommended that the Housing Corporation should develop implementation plans for recommendations from the 2008 audit on which progress to date has been unsatisfactory or incomplete. The Standing Committee on Government Operations concurs.
Recommendation 5
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
That the NWT Housing Corporation develop detailed implementation plans for all of the Auditor General’s recommendations on which progress to date has been unsatisfactory or incomplete, including specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results, and indicators for measuring progress.
That the NWT Housing Corporation provide information annually in its business plan on how its strategic priorities are being implemented.
That the NWT Housing Corporation revisit its strategic framework within the life of the 17th Assembly, with a view to providing a more detailed plan with clearly defined stages after other deficiencies identified by the Auditor General have been addressed.
The Auditor General’s review of contracting in the Government of the Northwest Territories did not cover the awarding of the contracts, but rather their administration. The Department of Finance is responsible for contracting policy through its Financial Administration Manual, FAM. Each department is responsible for its own contract administration. In the 2009 audit, the Auditor General found that most of the contracts examined had not been administered according to GNWT requirements, with errors in 57 percent of the contracts examined.
The Auditor General rates the Department of Finance’s progress on contracting policy framework as satisfactory on balance. The committee encourages the department to continue its work in updating and improving the accessibility of the GNWT Contracting Policy.
In 2009, under the Financial Administration Act, contract authority was delegated to the deputy ministers to designate expenditure and accounting officers and Finance has revised the FAM accordingly. The Auditor General noted that improvement was needed in documenting these delegations. The deputy minister assured Members at the public hearing that this documentation has now been completed.
As well, a vendor complaint process was established in November 2010 to provide for independent contract dispute resolution. The standing committee learned at the hearing that only four complaints have been referred for resolution to date, and all those complaints concern the contract to work processes rather than administrative issues such as timely payment.
In the 2009 audit, the Auditor General found deficiencies in the contract administration of the Department of Transportation and Department of Public Works and Services. These included:
receiving goods or services before the contract was issued;
not issuing contract change orders according to GNWT policy;
exceeding spending authority; and
approving payments before obtaining required certifications.
In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that both Transportation and Public Works and Services, PWS, had taken steps to strengthen their internal processes through:
training and procurement at Transportation;
establishment of a checklist for procurement files at PWS; and
workshops across the GNWT on procurement and contracting at PWS.
However, in a review of sample files from the two departments, the Auditor General found errors in 15 of 44 contracts, or 34 percent. The Auditor General rated progress in contract administration as unsatisfactory.
The standing committee also views this continuing rate of error as unacceptable. As the Auditor General points out, errors in contract administration place the GNWT at risk of overpayment or purchases of inappropriate goods and services. The government cannot afford such mistakes. The Auditor General recommends that these two departments strengthen their contract administration quality assurance processes, and the committee agrees.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
that the Department of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation strengthen their quality assurance processes for monitoring adherence to applicable regulations and policies in the administration of contracts; and
that these departments report annually to the House on the measures taken and their results.
I will now pass the floor to my colleague, the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is responsible for employment and cultural programs, early childhood, primary, secondary, adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) and post-secondary education (PSE), and training in the Northwest Territories. The department shares responsibility for education with eight regional education councils and Aurora College, among other education and training delivery agents.
Earlier in this report the standing committee registered its alarm at the Auditor General’s findings with respect to daycare facility inspections. The Auditor General considers ECE’s progress on these inspections to be unsatisfactory.
In the 2010 audit, the Auditor General reported that the Department of Education did not inspect all daycare facilities each year as required by law. The department responded that this was due to a shortage of staff and committed to developing an electronic tracking and reporting function for inspections within its client management system (CMAS).
In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE had started to develop the electronic system but had not yet been able to generate reports on the inspections. The Auditor General reviewed the two most recent inspections for each of the 121 daycare facilities in the NWT, and found that only 90 percent of the facilities had been inspected in 2010. The committee considers these results not just unsatisfactory but unacceptable.
The standing committee is extremely concerned that the Auditor General found “serious issues related to noncompliance with health and safety requirements” in some of the completed inspection reports with no record of follow up. Issues included locked fire exits, chemicals within reach of children, and uncovered electrical outlets. The Auditor General found that the department has no guidelines for following up on inspections when a facility is found to be violating requirements.
The deputy minister noted at the public hearing that the department has taken actions on the issues identified in the inspection reports and has started to develop guidelines to ensure daycare operators adhere to health and safety regulations. The committee considers this response slow at best.
Early childhood education is a particularly striking example of the GNWT’s overall problems with data collection. In 2010 the Auditor General reported that ECE was not collecting data on the educational component of daycare programming. The department had not developed a way for early childhood educators to share information with the K to 12 system on the progress of children entering school, nor had the department developed performance indicators to assess whether children who had attended daycare performed better than those who had not.
Further, ECE had not evaluated its 10-year-old Early Childhood Development Framework. After the 2010 audit the department committed to evaluate programming developed under the Early Childhood Development Framework for Action in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The deadline for completing this evaluation was then pushed to early 2012. This evaluation has not yet been tabled.
In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE had introduced the early childhood environment rating scale, used to determine if programming is improving, and completed 16 assessments using the scale. Thirteen daycare facilities had developed quality enhancement plans; however, the department indicated that it is not yet in a position to revise its early childhood programming because it has not yet collected data on children’s cognitive development, language and communication skills, and emotional and social well-being.
While the Auditor General considers progress in measuring the impact of early childhood education to be adequate, the standing committee would like to see much, much more improvement in this area.
The 17th Legislative Assembly has placed great emphasis on early childhood development. On May 30, 2012, the Assembly passed Motion 5-17(3) strongly recommending that the Ministers of Health and Education work together to bring forward proposals for a new and comprehensive early childhood development program to begin in the current fiscal year.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations endorses the recommendations of the Auditor General on the inspection of daycare facilities, and adds its own, with respect to measuring the impact of early childhood education. The committee is pleased that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will now have the resources to implement these recommendations on the monitoring of early childhood education with greater speed.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address any outstanding issues of noncompliance identified in the current daycare facility inspection reports;
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment ensure that inspections of daycare facilities are carried out annually and that immediate action is taken for any identified deficiencies;
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address the outstanding issues with regard to measuring the impact of early childhood education, including collection of data on the educational components of daycare programming, information sharing with the K to 12 system, development of performance indicators, and collection of data on children’s development and well-being, and that the department report on these measures annually in its business plan; and
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment carry out the renewal of the Early Childhood Development Framework in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Services within the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
Twenty ministerial directives give Northwest Territories education councils detailed direction on the requirements of the Education Act.
In 2010, the Auditor General examined how well the Department of Education, Culture and Employment monitored councils’ compliance with the reporting requirements of the directive of an Aboriginal language and culture-based education (ALCBE). The Auditor General found poor information in reports and lack of follow-up by ECE.
The Auditor General recommended that the department:
follow up on corrective actions taken by education councils;
develop a strategy and timetable for assessing the effectiveness of education directives; and
strengthen the reporting requirements for the ALCBE directive.
The Auditor General considers progress on the monitoring of education councils to be satisfactory, and the standing committee encourages the department to continue its progress in this area.
In the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found that ECE reviews and provides feedback on some reports received from education councils. More follow-up is still required. The department has also established a schedule for assessing the effectiveness of directives, and developed a new reporting template for the Aboriginal language and culture-based education directive that requires more detailed data from schools.
In 2010, the Auditor General examined how the Department of Education, Culture and Employment monitors Aurora College’s compliance with the adult literacy and basic education (ALBE) directive and found that many of Aurora College’s reports had limited data on results achieved.
The Auditor General recommended that the department, in collaboration with Aurora College, should:
establish key performance indicators and targets for expected results for ALBE programs;
review the reporting requirements of the ALBE directive to ensure key information is being collected;
monitor adherence to reporting requirements; and
take action to improve program results.
During the follow-up audit, the Auditor General found the evaluation of the ALBE program is underway for completion by December 2011. The ALBE review was completed in December 2011 and was reviewed by the Standing Committee on Social Programs.
Although the department has not yet fully implemented the recommendations of the 2010 audit, the Auditor General considers ECE’s progress on monitoring adult literacy and basic education programming to be satisfactory, and recommended that the department develop implementation plans for the recommendations where progress is incomplete.
The standing committee concurs with the recommendation, but remains concerned about the measurement of results for the ALBE program. During the public hearing the department minister of ECE indicated that one obstacle to better monitoring and reporting in this area is Aurora College’s obsolete student record system. The ALBE review also revealed that the program does not have adequate financial information available with which to make more effective and directed programming allocation decisions, in part because of the inconsistent and non-standardized reporting systems that currently exist.
Given the continuing low levels of adult literacy in the Northwest Territories, and the relationship of literacy to many social and economic indicators, it is critical that the government’s funds be spent on effective adult education programming, and that the government has efficient and reliable means to measure program effectiveness.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends:
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop implementation plans for the Auditor General’s recommendations on adult literacy and basic education for which progress today is incomplete, with specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results and indicators for measuring progress; and
that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop and implement a plan for the improvement of data collection and quality, for adult literacy and basic education, student achievement and financial information in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.
I will now pass the floor back to the chair of the committee, the Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli, to conclude the report. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Nadli.
The standing committee again thanks the Auditor General of Canada and his staff for their work in monitoring the progress of government organizations, and implementing the recommendations of previous performance audits. The committee also respects and appreciates the work of the organizations in making improvements in the programs and services for Northwest Territories residents.
Throughout the Auditor General’s status report the committee heard, again and again, the cross-departmental themes of inadequate information to manage programs and make decisions, insufficient monitoring of third party program delivery, and the absence of detailed action plans to implement audit recommendations. The committee would add a fourth barrier: That of the constant struggle to provide consistent guidelines and training for those who perform the task of data collection and program monitoring.
The committee concludes that the underlying issue is a need for greater GNWT-wide coordination in responding to these barriers. If people from different departments and agencies are talking to each other, perhaps someday the government’s management information system will also do so.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that the government provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
That concludes the report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the Review of the Status Report of the Auditor General of Canada to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 4-17(3) into Committee of the Whole today. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Committee Report 4-17(3) is moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration today of reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures is pleased to provide its report on the introduction of electronic petitions in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and commends it to the House.
Petitions are formal requests submitted to a Legislature. They are a vehicle for the public to influence policy-making and legislation and to bring their concerns to the attention of the Assembly. The act of petitioning has been described as the oldest of parliamentary forums. Citizens have used them for hundreds of years in the western parliamentary tradition, to state their grievances and ask their government for help. Today many jurisdictions permit electronic as well as handwritten petitions to be presented in the Legislatures.
On June 4, 2009, the Legislative Assembly directed the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to undertake research to determine the consequences of allowing the use of electronic petitions in the Northwest Territories. The Assembly further requested that the committee pay particular attention to concerns regarding security of the petition site and the authenticity of on-line signatures.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures examined issues related to technology, implementation and cost. Committee looked to other jurisdictions with on-line petition sites, particularly the Parliaments of Quebec, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania in Australia, and the Scottish Parliament.
In Committee Report 1-16(1), the standing committee recommended the implementation of an electronic petition pilot project to enhance the traditional petition system currently in place. On May 20, 2010, the Legislative Assembly adopted the motion to implement an electronic petition pilot project to run from October 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011. A second motion further recommended that the Office of the Clerk undertake an evaluation of the project at completion and that the evaluation be provided to the 17th Legislative Assembly.
The present report presents the results of this evaluation and makes recommendations for the future.
Mr. Speaker, with your concurrence, I will now pass this on to my colleague Mr. Hawkins, to continue the report.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I am completely surprised, but I am happy to help.
The following guidelines were established for the pilot project.
The Assembly would maintain the current process of paper petitions.
Electronic petitions could be used on their own or could be combined with the traditional paper petition.
The electronic petitions would resemble the Assembly website as closely as possible.
The Assembly would approve the format of the electronic petition before it was posted on-line.
An acceptable petition must contain a proper and respectful request of the NWT government or Minister to take or refrain from taking some action in response to an alleged grievance.
Aside from the petition format identified above, Assembly staff would not comment on, verify or amend any information in the body of the petition.
As with traditional petitions, electronic petitions require that a Member present the petition to the House.
These guidelines created as much uniformity as possible between the rules and the procedures already established for written petitions and the use of electronic petitions.
The following conditions governing the use of electronic petition websites were prominently displayed on the site:
A person may only join a petition once.
A petitioner must not use a false name.
A petition must be submitted in good faith.
A petition must not contain potentially libelous, false or defamatory statements.
A petition must not contain matters protected by a court order, subject to an appeal process or legal actions.
A petition must not contain material which is commercially sensitive, confidential or which may cause personal distress or loss.
A petition must not contain names of individual officials or public bodies.
A petition must not contain the names of individuals or provide information which will easily identify an individual in relation to a criminal accusation.
The following security measures were implemented on the on-line petition site:
The petitioner must register on the site by creating a user name and password.
The petitioner must supply an address, e-mail address, town, postal code and country.
The petitioner’s name and community were the only personal information available to the public when viewing an electronic petition.
E-mail confirmation was sent to the principal petitioner to advise that the petition was posted and ready to accept signatures.
A limited number of entries for each Internet address was permitted.
Electronic signatures were reviewed in order to eliminate obvious faults, names and multiple entries.
For the purpose of presentation in the House, the number of electronic signatures from the Northwest Territories must be clearly identified.
The pilot project was implemented in October 2010 and ran until June 30, 2011. Year over year comparisons show that there is some modest demand for the on-line petition format in the Northwest Territories.
In 2007-08, there were 10 paper petitions.
In 2008-09, there were nine paper petitions.
In 2009-10, there were nine paper petitions.
In 2010-11, when the electronic petition project was implemented, 10 petitions were submitted, of which half were electronic. Two of these were combined with the traditional paper format.
In 2010-11, there were a total of 2,869 signatures gathered on petitions, just over one-third of which were electronic.
At this particular time I will be passing the report on to Mr. Bromley, MLA for Weledeh.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to my colleague for filling in as my voice gave out there.
In a jurisdiction so large and geographically remote, the standing committee believes there is value in providing residents with greater opportunities to interact with their government. The public appeared to appreciate and utilize the pilot site as one place to go to view or sign various petitions, offering greater accessibility and transparency to citizens of the Northwest Territories. No insurmountable concerns arose during the pilot project. The committee, therefore, considers that this Assembly should offer an ongoing electronic petition service and revise the rules of the Legislative Assembly accordingly.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that this Legislative Assembly approve the implementation of an ongoing electronic petition service to operate in conjunction with the traditional petitions, and that the electronic site be operational for the fall 2012 sitting of the Legislative Assembly.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures recommends that any necessary amendments to the rules of the Legislative Assembly to permit the use of electronic petitions be drafted and presented for the approval of the Legislative Assembly during the fall 2012 session.
That concludes the Report of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures on the Introduction of Electronic Petitions in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The motion is in order. To the motion.
---Carried
Mr. Bromley.
I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and move Committee Report 5-17(3) into Committee of the Whole for today. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
Committee Report 5-17(3) is moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration for today.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to recognize the following visitors to the gallery, the Coalition Against Family Violence members Lorraine Phaneuf and Annemieke Mulders; Samantha Dechief with the Status of Women Council; Jo Sobool, Salvation Army; Jean Basil, Native Women’s Association; Lydia Bardak, John Howard Society; Mira Hall, Centre for Northern Families; David Wasylciw, Men for Change, Northwest Territories; and Gail Cyr, our women’s advisor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I welcome all the visitors in the gallery and thank them for their patience. I wanted to recognize a constituent I had in the audience today, Ms. Mira Hall. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also would like to recognize the Status of Women folks here today, Lorraine Phaneuf, Annemieke Mulders; Jean Basil, Lydia Bardak and Gail Cyr, a resident of Weledeh.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I’d particularly like to recognize Majors Jo and Dale Sobool of the Salvation Army. Both of them will be leaving Yellowknife on Sunday to take their new posting with the Salvation Army in Penticton, BC. In addition to their ministerial responsibilities, the Sobools have, through the Salvation Army, managed the Bailey House, the men’s transition home, withdrawal management services, the soup kitchen and food bank, organized the Christmas food hamper drive and toy distribution, and made a superb contribution in their work with other NGOs and other community members and volunteers. Please join me in saluting them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’d like to welcome the visitors in the gallery and the Status of Women Council over here. Earlier today we had one of our members from Range Lake, Mr. David Wasylchi here. I’d like to pay tribute and respect to our Pages here from Range Lake, Dakota Szarkowicz and Brandon Jacobs, for a job well done.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to thank all the Pages that are working here today and in the previous week, most specifically in the Tlicho constituency: Belinda Simpson and Patrina Tom out of Wekweeti and their chaperon Mary Adelle Football. I would just like to thank them for being here.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to welcome the members of the Coalition Against Family Violence, those that are still here and those that left already. I’m glad to see that you were here. I’d like also to recognize a couple of Frame Lake Pages who have been working very hard today and I think other days within this session: Conor Holick and Ryan O’Brien. Thank you to them specifically for the work they’ve done and thank you to all the Pages that have helped us with this long-day session.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge the fine group we have in the gallery for the Coalition Against Family Violence and, more specifically, the group from the Status of Women. Mr. Speaker, one of our Pages, Heather Flannigan, I would like to recognize as well. Finally, I would like to recognize my favourite table officer and I have no doubt yours as well, Anthony W.J. Whitford. One of our favourite guys here. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Angus Wilson was our public affairs summer student last year and he’s here in the Legislative Assembly. Thank you for last year, Angus, and welcome back to the Legislative Assembly.
Also, again, I’d like to welcome Consul General of Germany Mr. Hermann Sitz and his wife Ninna again in the public gallery today.
Colleagues, we’ll be taking a short recess and I invite everyone to join the Premier and myself for the planting of our Amber Jubilee Ninebark shrubs, in honour of the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. These shrubs were a gift from the province of Manitoba to all Canadian jurisdictions. They were newly created and named in honour of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
I invite all Members and guests to please join us outside for the planting of the shrubs. Thank you.
---SHORT RECESS
