Thank you, Madam Chair. I’ve heard many times in this House, and this Assembly, about the need to review that board in particular. I have committed to that. We will be reviewing all board appointments, not only for the membership, for the length of term, the composition of the board, as well. Those are commitments we are going to take. As for the timeline, as this point, Madam Chair, I cannot say, but I can commit that within a year that work will be done. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.
My second question is on some of the comments that were made in the statement by the Premier, a sunset of $170,000 to the grant funding, available to individual Northwest Territories friendship centres. Could the Premier please tell us the disbursements and who they go to, the $170,000?
We’ll go back to it. I think it’s on page 123. We’re just going item by item.
She didn’t ask for any comments when she made the statement, so I thought I was able to do that. I’m sorry if I’m out of [microphone turned off]… The third question that I had was with the department, for three new positions, and the creation of office of devolution initiatives. I just want to know the makeup of that department.
Is that in this section, 115? I think that is in this next section, so, if you want to wait until we can get to that, that’s fine, thanks. Are there any further questions, then? Okay. Are there any further questions on page 108-110? No. All right, seeing no further questions, please turn to page 109, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Cabinet support, operations expenditure summary, 2020-2021 Main Estimates, for $2,632,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Okay, thank you. Corporate communications, beginning on page 111, and items on page 113. Any questions? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I see there is not much of a change in the budget for corporate communications, but I have some questions, if we are changing the way corporate communications is done at all. I think one of the biggest criticisms of the last government, and the reason many of us are here, is that there was a communication breakdown, both between Members and with the public. I would say, to date, that we’ve been losing the communication battle in the media and with the public, and some of the great work we’re doing here is not necessarily being conveyed. My question to the Premier is: how are we doing our Cabinet communications differently?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That was a huge issue. I don’t think it was only in the last Assembly. I think it’s been in every Assembly. I think that, the Government of the Northwest Territories, we’re great at a lot of things, Madam Chair. One of the things we’re not so good at is our communications to the public. We do find that often we’re more reactive than proactive. We find that often, sometimes, our communications are at a high technical level, that often people don’t relate to. We have been looking at it right across the board. I have met with my Cabinet communications person. We have been trying to work with departments and be proactive in what we do. We are just at the beginning. It's a new Assembly. We are looking at a new way of communicating. Madam Chair, we will make mistakes. We cannot be proactive on everything. There will be some things that we will be reactive to, but we are, right across the board, every single department is trying to be more proactive, getting out not only the good word, but also, if there are things that are sometimes not so good, we need to also get those out in the news, as well, to provide our side of the story. Otherwise, we pay the price for it. It is something that we are totally engaged in at this time. Again, we will make some flaws. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Are there any further questions on this section? If there are no further questions, please turn to page 112, Executive and Indigenous Affairs, corporate communications, operations expenditure summary, 2020-2021 main estimates, $1,473,000. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you. Moving to directorate, beginning on page 114, with information items on page 117. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is where the department will see an increase of three positions in the 2020-2021 budget, these three positions are located in Yellowknife. It's the creation of the Office of Devolution Initiatives. Could you please explain to me exactly what that is?
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Office of Devolution Initiatives is responsible for leading the Government of the Northwest Territories through negotiations related to the management of offshore oil and gas resources, and we have also assigned them to be the lead on the review of the NWT Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement transitional provisions as they relate to the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Thebacha.
I don't have any other questions.
Thank you. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I noticed, in the segment "women's advisory," that the amount of money granted to the Native Women's Association and the Status of Women Council, and, in fact, the Women's Initiative Grants, have been static for the last two budgets. My question for the Minister is: how is this funding level determined for these non-profits? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. In all honesty, I believe that these funding levels have been in place for many years. I can't say exactly how many years, but I do know that it's more than the last Assembly. They're on the last year of a three-year term agreement, and I think that it is time that we look at them. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that answer from the Premier. It's time to take a look at these levels and to make them reflect the work that is being done, that there be some specific methodology to how these numbers are determined, and that they are reviewed annually to ensure that the money granted keeps up with the cost of inflation. My fear is that, while GNWT employees have received increases because of their collective agreement, the non-profits are being left behind, and I am calling on the Premier to do something about that. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member knows that I also come from the non-profit world. I have always advocated that the non-profit world is underfunded and overproducing, in my opinion. I am committed to reviewing these. However, Madam Chair, I am also conscious of the limitations of us financially. I do have to take into consideration that this is something that I think we need to look at, but we also have 22 huge priorities that we also need to have at the table. We will look at it. It may not be what the Member would like or that I would like, but we have to be fair in making sure that we address as many concerns as possible. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you. I do appreciate that the Minister is familiar with this background. The thing is, though, that, when non-profits fall too far out of sync, which is a variation of more than about 40 percent with the government, they can't keep staff, and then productivity goes down because they're in a constant turnover of staff. This is not big grant money compared to the totality of the budget, so I am calling on the Premier to review these. I don't expect them to be brought to government levels, but I do expect a gap to be closed between what the funding levels are historically and what they should be going forward so that non-profits can maintain their staff, keep their staff, and keep their productivity going. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I hear the Member. I empathize with the Member. I agree with the Member. However, these are two NGOs, non-governmental organizations. There are many other non-governmental organizations that are funded by other departments. We have to be fair, Madam Chair, and make sure that, if we're doing this, that it would be across the board so that we don't let other ones fall through the gaps. I am committed to reviewing them; however, again, as stated, it might not be the amount that I would like to see. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Premier for that. When these non-profit contribution agreements are reviewed, is there methodology to working out how much money is going to be in the contribution agreement? Is there some rationale for that? How is that money determined, that number determined? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My understanding, at this point, is that there is no methodology. It's meeting between officials and, I'm guessing, executive directors. However, Madam Chair, I want to again extend this to all NGOs. When I say NGOs, it means non-governmental organizations. When we give NGOs money, and we don't have any kind of requirements or measurable outcomes, in my opinion, it sets them up to fail. For example, the homeless shelter that I managed for many years never got an increase, ever. It makes me wonder why. I think that we do need to review all of the agreements, and I think that we need to start moving into a place of quality assurance and that we actually have measurable outcomes. Then the NGOs can come back to us and say, "We're meeting these outcomes, but we don't have enough money to do it." Give us a tool to be accountable to the public, because it is the public purse, but also give the NGOs a tool that they can say, "This is what you asked; this is what we're delivering, and we need an increase." It goes both ways. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree; it goes both ways. What I am suggesting here is that there be a methodology based on deliverables and that we are assured that we are getting value for money from the NGOs as much as we are from any other government spending. I think that you can find an example of how this could work with the shelter standards. It was a long piece of work, but finally, there are standards for the family violence shelters so that the contribution of money to those shelters for their operations relates to something tangible. I think that that's a methodology that could be applicable to the organizations that we are talking about in this area. My only concern is that, knowing that the shelter standards work took years and years, we need to find a way to do this work, if we're going to do it for all NGO contribution agreements, that we do this work more efficiently. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I do remember the shelter standards, don't remember where they are right now. I didn't realize that it took many years. This agreement is coming up in the next year. It might have to be signed. My commitment, though, is that we would sit down with the executive, with the board of directors, actually, and do that process in a mutually agreeable manner. Hearing the Member's concerns, maybe we will start with these ones. Hopefully, we will move that work out throughout because all NGOs have to not only be accountable for their funds but to also have a tool that says, "We need to have more." Like you said, without that, just giving out money, is not giving them that tool, and it is not giving us the accountability. We will work towards that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that the Minister and I are on the same page with this. I think you could do a pilot project with native women and status of women. I think those organizations do a strategic plan and a budget. I think there are some materials to begin with to come up with some mutually agreed goals for the services that they are providing through their contribution agreement and that that could be a constructive process across the board. I don't have any further questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will take it for a comment, but I do want to state that one of the other priorities or mandates within this government is to try to look at multi-year funding. For example if we don't have time, I am conscious of the time it took for the shelter standards. Perhaps, we could move into a multi-year funding formula, and that would give us the time, hopefully, that we could use for the next funding cycle, that we could actually have measurable outcomes. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Are there any further questions? Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at 2018-2019, when we provided $25,000 to the Northwest Territories SPCA. I believe this was under the Extraordinary Funding Policy, essentially, because right now the NWT SPCA doesn't fit into any pool of money. I brought this up with Municipal and Community Affairs previously. There is this argument that this becomes municipal jurisdiction. However, I really do think that the NWT SPCA does great work across the territory. My question is: is the Premier willing to assign a department, I think probably MACA in this case, to take some responsibility and make sure that some department's mandate covers the NWT SPCA so that we are not just one-off funding every once in a while through the extraordinary policy? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Madam Chair. At this point, I am not willing to commit that we would actually fund SPCA directly. That would be inappropriate, to go there. Again, not known for being too politically correct, I am going to try to be respectful, though. Municipalities, the term is often used, "dogs, ditches, and dumps," which implies that SPCA care of animals is under the responsibility of municipalities. By-laws would give tickets for homeowners who don't take care; by-law will pick up your animals. They picked up my animal quite a few times. I was starting to fund them independently. What I can commit to is that we agreed that we would do a policy related to the extraordinary funds because, Madam Chair, it should not be that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. That is what I found in this government. When people come crying or they reach out to their MLAs, we tend to be reactive and provide it to them. I also know there are a lot of good causes out there that don't have the capacity to send somebody here. They don't have the capacity to reach out to their MLAs. We can't leave them behind. My commitment is to do enough of policy in regard to all extraordinary funding. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the commitment to update the Extraordinary Funding Policy, but I don't think this is the place for the NWT SPCA to ever fit. I recognize that the heart of what the SPCA in Yellowknife is doing is municipal, but there is this issue: the SPCA also travels to communities and provides vaccines; they do spay and neuter clinics. This idea that they are not doing territorial work is a misunderstanding of the importance of animal health. A single dog attack in a community, when we throw in the medical travel, costs us more than the SPCA would need to go and do the preventative work to make sure we are not having rabies outbreaks. Right now, we don't have a single department in the GNWT responsible for animal health. I recognize that the Premier cannot make a commitment to provide core funding at this time, but to assign the responsibility for animal health and the work that happens on a territorial level to some department so that they don't keep running into this block of finding absolutely no one to go talk to about larger territorial animal health concerns.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Madam Premier.
