To the Minister, I appreciate that he’s going to make this report available, but I believe it’s before standing committee already. My question is whether or not, or why it can’t be made available to the public. I’m sure that the recommendations in that report would like to be seen by some of the people who had input, would like to be seen by some of the people who are using SFA right now. I would again ask the Minister when he anticipates that this report can be tabled.
What we were waiting for was the management’s response. Now that is before me. The next step was to introduce that to standing committee. That happened. The next step is, of course, tabling the document with all the 18 recommendations and it will be for the general public.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to weigh in on a topic that was brought in earlier today by the Member for Yellowknife Centre. We don’t have money for long-term care beds, as we heard today from Hay River, we don’t have money for a nurse in Tsiigehtchic, and we’ve heard today that we don’t have money for a school in Trout Lake, but we do have lots of money to pay out and dole out $1.2 million in bonuses last year in 2011.
My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. Would he agree to and commit to tabling the various criteria that is used to evaluate how bonuses are being paid out by department, by category, by position?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Glen Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That information is on-line. We’re happy to re-provide it to Members.
I appreciate that. I’m going to be looking for my glasses next time for that question. The criteria, which I again hear is on-line, and I’ll definitely make the effort to do so. The concern I have is the fact that in some cases we’ve got departments, like, some of our health authorities are running deficits. In some cases our health authorities aren’t even complying with the financial act by reporting their annual reports on time, yet we’re giving out bonuses in these areas.
Can the Minister indicate to me and the House how it is that we can give out a bonus, when really some of these criteria – basic criteria – are not being met to the public?
I just want to correct my last answer just slightly. Employees’ information, excluded senior management are on-line. I’m not 100 percent sure about deputies’ information, how that is determined. It is by policy, and I can share that with the Member if it’s not on-line.
With respect to individual bonuses and why they may be awarded, financial management would be one category. At the end of the day, we have collective agreements in place, we have agreements with our employees, we have the Public Service Act which outlines bonuses as a possibility. Every deputy is responsible for doing an assessment of their staff, setting performance criteria for an upcoming year and assessing at the end of the year. For those individuals who are eligible for bonuses, they would have to have those assessments done and they would have to be ranked against those criteria to determine whether or not they are eligible for a bonus. Not all employees that are eligible do get bonuses.
I would like to thank the Minister for his response. I’m going to ask the Minister a very forthright question here. If the criteria is such that they meet certain standards for an employer senior bureaucrat and they receive a portion or pro-rata of their bonus, would the Minister agree to looking at basically an all-or-none policy that you have to meet all your criteria, you have to meet everything involved with your employment to receive your full bonus?
In order to get a bonus, an employee would have to be seen as exceeding their expectations. If they don’t exceed their expectations, then they shouldn’t be getting a bonus. It doesn’t matter, it’s not specific to one category or another category. They have to be seen as overall exceeding.
I’m happy to meet with committee to discuss bonuses, how they are awarded, how they are earned, and if any changes are required, we’re happy to consider those with committee.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It appears that we’re actually moving in the right direction and I appreciate the Minister’s offer, which leads me to my last question. Should the Government Ops standing committee come back to this House and to the Minister with specific revisions, if we’ve done our due diligence with privacy legislation, would the Minister comply with such recommendations?
It is a hypothetical question. I have committed to going to committee. I have committed to sharing our information with them and working with them. If committee has some direction they would like us to follow, we’re absolutely open to discussing that and working with committee on any issue that’s important to them and the people of the Northwest Territories.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I’m a little confused about some of the information that he was giving me with regard to the Student Financial Assistance Program review. I understood the Minister to say that the document or report has been done. There has been a response from management – I presume that to be the department staff – and that he as a Minister must review that before anything can be made public.
I’d like to ask the Minister why the report must remain private before the Minister determines the response. Why can the report not be made public? If it’s out there, people can comment on it while the Minister analyzes the management response.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I already committed that I will be tabling the document in the House.
I didn’t hear the Minister say when that is, so I hope that’s soon. I’d like to know from the Minister, it seems that in the last little while that it appears to me that reports are done, and then before the report gets tabled there are responses from management.
I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not this has become a current practice that a report is asked for, a report is received, and before the report actually gets tabled, the management response is asked for. Is this something which is becoming standard practice in the Minister’s department and across government?
When the recommendations are brought forward based on the input from the general public, there is a management response provided, and then based on that, the tabling of the document pursuant after that. As I stated, I will be tabling the document before the end of session.
Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. I look forward to seeing that report made public. I guess I still don’t quite understand the rationale for this current situation, so I would like to ask the Minister again: Is there a reason why the report would not be tabled before the management response is prepared?
That has been the process for quite some time now within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. We are following the process and we’ll continue to follow the process as well. There may have been some discrepancies in the past where recommendations were brought forward by consultants, issues with the consultants, so we had to make sure that there is a management response to deal with that matter. We have gone through some hiccups along the way, as well, with this process last year and this year. We just want to make sure that we have the right document going out to the general public based on the recommendations brought forward. That’s part of the process of management response.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks also to the Minister. In listening to the answer, I have to say that it sounds to me as though we want to hide things, and I would hope that’s not the intent. If we have to get a report and massage the report before it can be made public, I’d like to ask the Minister if this is the reason: we want to make sure that we’re putting out the information that we want out there as opposed to what’s reported on the report.
Again, we’re not hiding stuff within our department or government. This is an area that we want to make sure and clarify whoever’s the consultant, having the same messaging. Recommendations brought forward may not be the same recommendations brought forward by the general public and also the department. We have to work together on this. We’re not hiding anything, but it will be tabled in the House before session ends.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Premier questions on the recent omnibus bill in Ottawa and the impacts it could have in the Northwest Territories, especially on devolution and the regulatory reforms, and other acts such as the Fisheries Act, that it would make some changes in the Northwest Territories. I want to ask the Premier if he had his Cabinet do an analysis of this bill that’s coming, that’s actually being debated in the House in Ottawa.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The omnibus bill is a very thick document and we have our analysts pouring through it to find out what the implications of the various sections of it are for the Northwest Territories. We expect to be able to report back to committee by this Friday.
Actually, that document is a little over 450 pages. It’s like they’re throwing everything at us and putting some very significant changes to that bill here.
I want to ask the Premier if he has some ideas or strategies as to if this bill here, parts of this bill will significantly change our relationship with the federal government and how we do business in the Northwest Territories. Is he willing to look at a strategy of how we can probably, or how we can deal with some of the issues that will come forward from this bill?
When we get the information we can sit down and see how we can approach this. I believe with a majority government at this late stage it would be very difficult to change the course of events because it’s in front of Parliament and they’ll be voting on it.
The Premier outlined some hard facts for us to consider. He also indicated that the power is in Ottawa here.
I want to ask the Premier, other than knowing these facts here, has he or his Cabinet given any thought to how we can deal with some of these significant changes that will possibly be coming to the Northwest Territories regarding this bill.
As I said, we’re analyzing the bill. We’ll have to see what the implications are. The Government of Canada has indicated that a lot of the changes are being done to make for a more efficient and effective regulatory process without sacrificing any of the environmental impacts or providing for additional Aboriginal participation. We will review the omnibus bill and then we will share our findings with committee. We’re very open to discussing an approach on how to deal with it.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The main bill was passed last June, so we had ample time to analyze it, and at this late stage I want to ask the Premier why was this time here given such at the end of the line as to how do we respond to some of the changes that are going to be coming down to the Northwest Territories.
The detail that has been provided on the omnibus bill, this is the first time we’ve seen it.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to ask some questions on disaster compensation to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, only because that some of the replacement items belong to hunters and trappers in the community of Nahanni Butte. I’m actually a little bit confused, though. I thought disaster compensation for that horrible flood in Nahanni Butte would be under MACA, but it looks like ITI has taken over some of the hunters’ and trappers’ skidoos, chainsaws and quads that got damaged. Recently, three residents were denied assistance to replace those items.
I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI what kind of a hunters’ and trappers’ compensation policy we have. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a harvesters Disaster Compensation Program that’s allotted $15,000 on an annual basis. It has a maximum of $4,500 per applicant. I understand the Member’s concern, and I had the opportunity to visit the community of Nahanni Butte with the Premier and the Member just after the flood had occurred. Certainly, the residents of Nahanni Butte need the government’s assistance. If there are, as the Member indicated, a few people that have concerns, that’s something that we’re willing to sit down with the Member and the community to discuss how we can get them assistance.
Certainly, in this case in Nahanni Butte, it was an act of God. It was a new issue. I was over at the Dehcho leadership meeting and the chief and the band manager from Nahanni Butte brought this to my attention. But some of the parameters, some of the guidelines are making it difficult for people to claim damaged hunting and trapping equipment. I’d just like to ask the Minister of ITI: Can he review this, because there must be a way around it?
Yes, I’ve given a commitment to the Member that we will take a look at the situation in Nahanni. I’ve also got the policy here with me. Sometimes when things like this happen, they don’t necessarily conform to the policy that’s there, and we need to take a look at how best to help those residents in Nahanni that need assistance, both the hunters and trappers.
Certainly, a community like this that experiences disaster, the community is still not together and the last thing you’ve got to give them is guidelines, procedures and reasons why we cannot help them.
I’d like to ask the Minister one more time: Will he review these certain instances and see if he can help the residents that have lost small personal gas equipment that would help them with their harvesting, hunting and trapping?
Again, I thank the Member for raising the concern on behalf of the community and the residents in Nahanni. It certainly is something I’ve committed to already, and I commit again to the Member to sit down and review the situation and try to find the assistance that’s necessary to help those folks out in Nahanni Butte.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on our orders of the day, oral questions.
---Unanimous consent denied
