Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this report within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Does committee agree that we have concluded consideration of Committee Report 317(4), Report on the Review of the 2011-2012 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories?
Agreed.
Thank you. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since we have time and I believe staff have the motions ready for us, we would like to consider Committee Report 4-17(4).
Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Just give us a second and we will proceed. Committee has agreed to consider Committee Report 4-17(4), Report on the Review of the 2011-2012 Public Accounts. I will now go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations – this is the committee that conducted the review – for opening comments. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations has presented its report on the review of the 2011-2012 Public Accounts. The public review took place on March 15, 2013. The committee’s report includes seven recommendations. The standing committee thanks the assistant auditor general, Terry DeJong, and his staff in the Office of the Auditor General of Canada for their generous assistance in this review. The committee also thanks the NWT comptroller general, Warren St. Germaine, and his staff for their assistance in their appearance with the committee during the public review.
The committee’s report discusses and makes recommendations to include the timeliness of the public accounts. The committee examined the Auditor’s report and makes their related recommendations with regard to the NWT Housing Corporation reporting. The review clarified the cost of repaying the Discovery Air loan, winding down the NWT Opportunities Fund. The committee expresses dismay that the increase in the government’s borrowing limit came at a cost in foregoing interest and fees paid over $5 million.
The standing committee also paid particular attention to the notes on the accounts receivables and outlined receivables. The committee was pleased to hear the government has reviewed the interest rate policy for other jurisdictions such as Nunavut.
Members also look forward to seeing an improvement in the NWT Housing Corporation’s mortgage collections within the life of the 17th Assembly. The standing committee recommended that the government monitors loans receivable and develop targets and measures to improve collections, with a view to reducing the allowance for doubtful accounts to less than 30 percent of the total loans receivable.
Environmental liabilities have become a major issue in public centre accounting. The standing committee would like the government to provide a schedule or timetable for the environmental assessment of all known potentially contaminated sites for which the GNWT is responsible for.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations has a mandate to review the public accounts. The committee’s review was the first such examination of the public accounts in approximately nine years, but it will not be the last. The committee intends to continue the practice of a public review of the public accounts so that the GNWT spending issues are publicly examined and all relevant information is placed before the public. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. General comments. Seeing that there are no general comments, for closing, I will now move to Mr. Nadli.
