Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to just explain this motion a little bit. Certainly, the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission has made some improvements. They were audited, the first in this group of departments that were audited by the Auditor General. I think it was in 2006, if I remember rightly. So they’ve had quite a bit of time to look at the recommendations from the Auditor General’s report in 2006, and have had a fair bit of time to respond, and from the Auditor General’s remarks they’ve responded quite well. But that said, there were still some gaps, and this motion goes to the particular areas that are still lacking within the WSCC that the Auditor General saw. They could be seen to be minor, but quality assurance is never minor, and that’s why it’s referenced here.
The other item that’s mentioned is a process for approving and communicating changes to its claims processing procedures. That’s an internal communication, basically, within the organization, and the Auditor General found that a change might be made in one area which was not communicated to the whole of the organization and people in another area weren’t aware of it. They’re not as dire as the gaps that were mentioned in the first motion that I made, but it is important that the WSCC recognize that by making these improvements, they’re only going to make themselves a better organization and provide better service to our residents. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. Carried.
---Carried
Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation continue its efforts to collect mortgage receivables;
And further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation 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 each year, starting with the data as of April 2012. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation meet its obligations for consistent and thorough monitoring of local housing organizations under the universal partnership agreements, either by finding the resources to conduct annual assessments of operations, or by changing the agreements to specify some other form of structured and scheduled monitoring, with follow-up in cases of noncompliance;
And further, that the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation improve its monitoring of and support to local housing corporations in 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;
And further, 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;
And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation fulfill its statutory responsibility to ensure that 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 year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee 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;
And further, that the NWT Housing Corporation provide information annually in its business plan on how its strategic priorities are being implemented;
And further, 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. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As we heard earlier today in the review of the Auditor General report findings, I think it’s important to note that this is the second time or the second round, as you will, in which the Auditor General had a look at many of the issues we’re talking about today. This is no different than one returning to the dentist’s office after having your teeth done, in terms of a cavity or filling, and the dentist is looking to see if you’re brushing your teeth properly and doing all the proper oral work that you as a patient need to do. This is, in essence, what we’re doing with this procedure.
I can tell you that although great strides have been undertaken with the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation since the start of the 17th Assembly, it obviously had a fairly large uphill battle in order to make the improvements that are warranted. More importantly, we saw opportunities in the LHOs, or the local housing organizations. This is where there was the most opportunity for improvement noted by the Auditor General. The annual assessments of the LHOs did receive a fail, as a result of their findings for the second round, and that follow-up audits weren’t being conducted on an annual basis.
Since that point in time, we’ve heard different stages of the Minister as well as the Housing Corporation in terms of their attempts to make and mitigate the findings of the Auditor General. For that, I think it is critical that, as the member of the standing committee, we give the department and the corporation a little bit of opportunity to make the changes they need to make. However, I do want to state on the record that the findings for the second round weren’t very favourable. We are hoping that the department, with the Minister, do undertake all the recommendations very seriously from the Auditor General. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Are there any further comments to the motion?
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee 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 further, that the department reports annually to this House on the measures taken and their results. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny,
Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, the details we saw earlier today clearly speak to the area of the processing of any assurance of monitoring the goods and services and contracts. Again, this is something that has to be looked at. This was definitely an area that we thought, even though the framework did receive a satisfactory grade from the Auditor General, it was clear from the Auditor General comments that there were still errors of the process. But it was getting better. With that, we do hope that those in Public Works and those in Department of Transportation adhere to these recommendations.
Again, this is the second round that these recommendations have been asked by the departments and that the Standing Committee on Government Operations will be following up with the department on this motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion.
Question
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address any outstanding issues of noncompliance identified in the current daycare facility inspection reports;
And further, 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;
And further, that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment address the outstanding issues with regard to measuring the impacts of early childhood education, including collection of data on educational components of the 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 further, 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. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The motion is on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. As stated in the reports that we heard earlier today from the Auditor General in regard to the early childhood development, and motions that we passed in this House that it is an important aspect of our residents of the Northwest Territories and our social and economic impacts as well in terms of the health and safety… Well, first of all, of our facilities that we trust that should be maintained to a quality and to a standard that our kids can go and get good care, obviously, that is the first one that we need those to be addressed annually. Any deficiencies that are discovered, they would also be addressed and fixed and attended to in an appropriate manner.
With all the information and research behind the early childhood development and the importance of getting that framework done so we as a government can move forward to make it a better future for our youth and for our society, that it is taken into consideration by this government. Obviously, the cognitive development, social development, language and culture are all very important aspects. To that motion, I support it and would like to see all of these addressed in a good manner. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member for leading into this motion here. I will be speaking to just one part of this motion, one in which I think was noted by the Auditor General. I want to express that component. This component is the inspection of the daycare facilities. I want to make it known that the results of the daycare facility audit was an unsatisfactory mark. For an Auditor General to give an unsatisfactory, it has to be fairly significant. I know they are very generous in giving it a very objective opinion.
I need to make a note that when the Auditor General came across this issue, there was basically a stoppage immediately in the process of the Auditor General. I want to make that note, as well, that relevant people within the department were made notified as noncompliance in health and safety issues surrounding our children. When the Auditor General asked, there was no written guidance on how these follow-ups were going to be concluded. This is an issue of concern.
Within the report itself, they did not inspect all daycare facilities. I want to stress that. They did not have the manpower. ECE did not have the amount of staff to do that. The average months between inspections for most of our facilities are around 20 months. In one region, it was as high as 21 months. In some of the audit samples, there was about 14 months, so there is clearly an opportunity for inspections here not so much to consider the noncompliant nature in health and safety risk. The fact that we need to get into these child daycare facilities more frequently and in a way in which we can do random audits, so this is not an audit where the inspectors show up and the department shows up and things are cleaned up prior to the visit. You need to be random. I need to stress that. I think the Auditor General will agree with me on that one.
Again, the fact is that the department does have some work to do in this area. Again, for a full stoppage of an audit that the Auditor General did, should give this Assembly and the people of the Northwest Territories a concern that was given by the Auditor General.
I hope that the department will make the necessary changes and the proper action plan that will deal with these issues, not within a year or two, not looking at strategies and looking at monitoring and enhancing the regulations. I think we are beyond that. I think this is a matter of this is where rubber hits the road. This is involving our children. I expect that we are inspecting these facilities within the very near future and that information is brought back to this Assembly as early as the next fall sitting. I will stop at that, Madam Chair. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I also will support this motion and appreciate the committee bringing this forward. I certainly agree on the inspection side of things. The law calls for an inspection every 12 months. As my colleague mentioned, we seem to be in the order of 14 to 20 months.
The findings are very straightforward to correct: clearing a fire exit, storing chemicals properly, plugging something into the electrical socket so it can’t be accessed by small children. Those are very easily done sorts of things. I am not convinced that it is a manpower issue as much as just making sure direction is clear and responsibilities are clear.
I certainly agree with the Early Childhood Development Framework. I would further say that, of course, we would like that done as promised some time ago. We would like it completed in time to enter into the business plan for 2013-14, which means prior to the September period for those business plans. That is all I had. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee 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 to date is incomplete, with specific goals, targets, action items, timelines for achieving results, and indicators for measuring progress;
And further, 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. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Motion is on the floor. Motion is in order. To the motion, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Once again, with this motion what we want to see is better results within our adult learning education system, and that dollars are spent in a more efficient manner, and in a better area of allocating the dollars so that they’re spent more efficiently and effectively, with quality programming.
The adult literacy in the Northwest Territories is pretty low, and low literacy rates result in social and economic downfalls of our system. If we can start educating, well, obviously our early childhood, but then with our adults as well we can get them better prepared for the jobs that we see in the future, get them prepared to get back into the workforce, or furthering their education into post-secondary education, which you want to see as a healthy education and a new generation of educated adults.
I’m glad that the committee agreed on putting this motion through and I hope to have more people speak to it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be voting in favour of this motion brought forward here by the Member for Inuvik Boot Lake. The adult literacy and basic education component, or ALBE program as it is known, is a vital component and a vital training tool mechanism for education for our people in the Northwest Territories.
Unfortunately, sometimes the monies we do receive, federal monies that go towards these initiatives, we take for granted and I think given times of restraint, given our due diligence on having to make sure that we’re stretching those dollars effectively. As the motion indicates, the limited data on what results were achieved with this ALBE program is quite concerning. Throwing money at a program which we’re not monitoring and finding out exactly how therapeutically beneficial we’re providing the people of the Northwest Territories is very troublesome. Sometimes those monies could be used for better use.
So as the motion indicates, and as the Auditor General clearly indicates in many of its directions, establishing those key performance indicators, what is the dashboard of success? Are we monitoring the success of these clients? Are we interviewing them? Is there a formal system to which that feedback mechanism gets back to the so-called establishments of curriculum and education, including Aurora College and, more importantly, to the Members of this House?
Action needs to have a way of moving forward and I believe this motion speaks to such action. So, again, I will be speaking in favour of this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Nadli.
