Is committee agreed that we have concluded consideration of Environment and Natural Resources?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Mr. Miltenberger, if I could get you to please thank your witness and, Sergeant-at-Arms, if I could get you to please escort him out, that would be great.
As agreed earlier, the next department on our list is the Department of Finance, which is in section three of the binder. Michael Miltenberger, do you have witnesses that you wish to bring into the Chamber?
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.
Michael Miltenberger, please introduce your witness, for the record.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me Margaret Melhorn, deputy minister of Finance.
Thank you. We will proceed with the Department of Finance. Page 3-2 is the summary page so we will move to the next page, which is 3-4. Finance, activity summary, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $925,000.
Agreed.
That concludes the detail. We will go back to the department summary, which is on page 3-2. Department of Finance, department summary. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if I could just have a little explanation of this fund, the $925,000. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. We will go Ms. Melhorn.
The $925,000 is to allow for the investment in an upgrade new module for the SAM financial information system of the government that would allow for implementation of a module that would do procurement. It would facilitate government procurement and contracting.
When did we purchase the SAM system and how much was it?
The SAM system was implemented in 2009. It was a project that had been going on for a number of years. The total budget for the implementation of the SAM system was in the order of $20 million. Thank you.
Are we anticipating any further expenditures other than just about a million dollars in this case?
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With this new system we have taken on a commitment to maintain and upgrade, and in the IT world that’s an ongoing commitment. While we’re not expecting any, hopefully, yearly major changes, we do want to keep it up to speed with the changes in software and programming so that it continues to provide the service that it was intended to, but it is going to be an ongoing commitment. Thank you.
The Green Procurement Policy, I understand, is currently, I believe, either farmed out to each department or under Public Works and Services. But I think it’s the hope, perhaps optimistically, the intent is to move that into the Department of Finance so that it could be done under one hat. I’m wondering, currently it’s a rather hollow policy but should some teeth be provided in the Green Procurement Policy, would it fit under this module for implementation administration? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Ms. Melhorn.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The module is a tool that facilitates the procurement process. The policies and other guidelines that departments would be working with respect to procurement would be separate from that but obviously would have to be reflected in the way that the modules are configured. The Department of Finance is responsible for procurement policies in terms of contracting and the contracting regulations. The green procurement would require the establishment of a number of technical requirements that might be beyond the scope of the Department of Finance and might be better placed in specific departments that are more able to address those technical requirements. Thank you.
Well, we’ve had discussions in this House where it was identified that the Green Procurement Policy might rightfully belong in the Department of Finance so that it would be applied and implemented. Whereas it’s not now, it would be applied and implemented across the government. I am interested in what it would take to configure this module to be able to handle it. I recognize that there must be other policies that this software is responding to and if we should move that policy into Finance, I hope that the potential for this to be useable to administer that policy would be part of this purchase. So I’d ask the Minister if he would consider that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re buying a module, basically off the shelf and we’re going to be able to tailor it to the requirements, our contracting requirements. So it will be able to reflect what the Green Procurement Policy will eventually end up being. It will be configured to accommodate the BIP requirements and those types of things. So, yes, we will have the capacity to have it tailored to the specific realities of our contracting world with the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Thanks to the Minister for that commitment. That sounds good to me.
I’ve raised the concern in the past about how much we’re actually saving with these sorts of things and I’m hoping here that there will be clear savings. I will be interested in what the costs of these configurations are as well as the maintenance, so I will be watching this in the future, possibly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. No question. Just a comment. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We appreciate the Member’s comment and we, as well, will be looking to see whether there are any efficiencies here in terms of dollars. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list is Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to pick up where my colleague Mr. Bromley was asking questions on the contract management module. I would equate it to, you know, last year we bought a souped up Porsche, we got it home and we found out it’s got no air conditioning. That’s the kind of thing that really bothers me, when the government spends millions of dollars on new, state-of-the-art software system and SAM and it can’t manage contracts that the government has. It’s kind of ridiculous that a year later we want to spend another million dollars on that component, that piece of it.
I’m not sure, and Mr Bromley touched on it a little bit, but in the life of the last government we had many discussions, I remember, with the previous government on migrating the contract registry and the BIP monitoring all over to Finance. If we’re going to spend a million dollars on a new contract management module, wouldn’t it make sense that we’d be having those discussions again? I’d like to know exactly where that discussion is at or if that’s not part of the equation, then we’re not really managing all the contracts government-wide if ITI still has the contract registry. These guys are spending a million dollars on a new contract management module for this SAM system. Again, we’re not covering all of our bases here, Mr. Chairman, so maybe a comment on that would be great. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Minister Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Two specific points in response to the Member’s question. This project has a life going back to 2003 when it was initially contemplated. When it was finally ready to go in 2009, the price was almost $29 million and was scaled back to $20 million to get us up and running with our stripped down economy model Chevrolet kind of system to allow us to do the basic business of government. Now, as we look at consolidating our contract and procurement services within government, this module will in fact assist us in doing the work to do that consolidation and is, in fact, underway. Thank you.
So maybe the Minister can commit that in fact the contract registry, BIP monitoring and the efforts that ITI are going to be migrated over to the Department of Finance and managed under this new $1 million upgrade. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We are working on that consolidated shared services model and we are bringing as many of the infrastructure resources together and the decision-making and the policies and procedures so we have something similar to those of us that have been around a long time and would remember the old government services kind of approach. The final configuration hasn’t been decided on, but regardless of that, the assured services model, this module will be an integral part of that system and infrastructure. Thank you.
I’d hope that happens sooner rather than later. This is year three of four for the current government and that’s something I think that we need to try to get concluded before the next government comes in.
The other thing, we’re spending close to $1 million on this upgrade and on the O and M costs we’re spending $125,000 a year. Maybe I missed the answer to Mr. Bromley’s question, but is that for a staff person to manage the new module?
No, that’s for the ongoing licensing costs. What has been anticipated, though, is that there will be, because of the consolidation and change to SAM, the other modules that we in fact will be able to save on the cost of one position, which is over about $110,000, which will help offset the ongoing licensing fees and other costs. Thank you.
Just one other question. When we purchased SAM, how come we didn’t buy something that would incorporate contract management inside of SAM and why are we spending $1 million a year later? We should have been ensured that SAM was going to cover off the needs of the government that we required. Obviously it didn’t and we’re spending $1 million a year later, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. So maybe we weren’t shopping at the right store or with the right company. There were a lot of discussions around who we ended up doing business with and maybe there was another model out there, Mr. Chairman, that would have incorporated this and we wouldn’t have had to spend another $1 million. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. I think you answered it with your Chevette response, but I’ll go to the Minister again.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, keeping with the automobile analogies, the reality was that if we were prepared to pay the 28 or 29 million as opposed to the 20 million at the time, we could have had all those extra features incorporated. Given the pressures and the fiscal realities of the day a year or so ago, we scaled it back to do the most fundamental core services we had, recognizing that we would probably want to, as time and resources permitted, expand and put in the programs that we’re talking about today to do the things as a government and as a Legislature that were not targeted, such as this consolidated shared services for procurement. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. We’re on page 3-2, which is the departmental summary for the Department of Finance, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $925,000.
Agreed.
Agreed. Is committee agreed that we have concluded the Department of Finance?
Agreed.
Okay, I’d like to thank Ms. Melhorn. If I can get the Sergeant-at-Arms to please escort the witness out. That was the department summary.
Alright, next on our agenda is Bill 8, the Social Work Profession Act. I’ll now ask the Minister responsible for the bill, the honourable Minister Miltenberger, to introduce the bill. No, sorry, my bad. I will now ask the Minister responsible for the bill, the Honourable Sandy Lee, Minister of Health and Social Services, to introduce the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to introduce Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act. This bill will regulate the profession of social work in the NWT and ensure that only qualified individuals will be able to call themselves social workers. It was developed collaboratively with the NWT Regulation Subcommittee of the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada.
Social workers play a crucial role in the health and social services system and provide services to children, adults, families, groups, organizations and communities. This legislation is intended to protect the public by ensuring that social workers are qualified to practice, by including a complaint and discipline process that is fair and protects the rights of social workers. The major components of this legislation are registration licensing and complaints and disciplinary procedures.
Mr. Chairman, the registration model in the act is consistent with other NWT health profession legislation such as the Pharmacy Act. Because there are too few resident social workers in the NWT to enable the profession to be self-regulating, the GNWT will administer the licensing and registration of the profession. This model is supported by stakeholders. The new legislation will assign registration duties such as the maintenance of registers to the registrar and also provides an appeal mechanism for registration decisions. Appeals of decisions are made directly to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.
Two registration categories for social workers will be established under the act. Registered social workers will require a bachelor’s degree in social work and licensed social workers will require a diploma in social work. Aurora College graduates of the Social Work Program will be eligible to apply as licensed social workers. A dual category system was considered the best option as the NWT continues to be challenged in recruiting health and social services professionals. Under this system, Aurora College graduates can be licensed. It provides the GNWT with the flexibility of developing and training a homegrown workforce and employers will still have the option of considering education and experience equivalencies when recruiting for a position.
Mr. Chairman, some of our northern social workers have worked for years as social workers and have accumulated a wealth of experience and knowledge but do not have minimum formal education requirements required to be licensed under the act. The proposed act contains a grandfathering provision allowing anyone employed as a social worker in the NWT for at least two years immediately prior to the act coming into force to have the opportunity to apply for registration as a licensed social worker.
Mr. Chairman, there are many non-profit agencies, teachers, band councils, aboriginal leaders and elders that provide services that might be considered within the scope of practice of social work. The act will not prohibit those individuals from continuing to provide those services as the act protects the title of social worker rather than the scope of practice.
In order for social workers to maintain a standard level of competence, the proposed act includes a continuing competency provision. Every three years all registrants will be required to fulfill the continuing competency requirement as a means of ensuring that social workers maintain current skills, knowledge and abilities throughout their careers.
The conduct and discipline section of the proposed act is consistent with modern health profession legislation in the NWT and other provinces in the areas of complaints, investigation and the board of inquiry. The disciplinary process separates the investigative and adjudicative provisions to ensure procedural fairness.
The complaints officer will review a complaint and decide if it should be dismissed or if he should attempt to resolve it. The complaints officer will also have the option of appointing a facilitator to engage in alternative dispute resolution or to appoint an investigator to investigate the complaint or refer the complaint to a board of inquiry. The appointment of a deputy also gives the complaints officer the ability to initiate the complaints process if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that a social worker may be engaging in unprofessional conduct.
The Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada established an NWT Regulation Subcommittee to assist the department in the development of this legislative initiative. I would like to thank Members of the subcommittee, Ms. Sandy Little, Mr. Les Harrison, Ms. Anne Gill, Mr. J.C. Catholique and Ms. Jette Finsborg, for all of their time and effort thus far and for committing to continue to work with the department in the future to develop the regulatory framework required to implement this act.
I would also like to acknowledge the nearly 80 stakeholders who participated in the regional workshops that helped lead to the development of key elements in the legislation. This collaborative effort has resulted in a modern piece of legislation that meets the needs of all stakeholders: social workers and the general public.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Sandy Little, secretary-treasurer for the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada, and the chair of the NWT Regulations Subcommittee, and also to thank Ms. Denise Bowen, chair of the Health and Human Services Program with Aurora College, for voicing their support of the bill during the public review process.
Finally, I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their review of this bill and for their comments. Questions posed demonstrated their interest and support of the legislation and their passion for ensuring the legislation protects the public while remaining fair to social workers.
That concludes my opening remarks and I would be pleased to answer any questions Members may have.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. I would now like to ask the chairperson for the Standing Committee on Social Programs, which reviewed this bill, to make comments. Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Social Programs conducted its public review of Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act, on September 28, 2010. The committee thanks the Minister and her staff for presenting the bill.
The bill provides for regulation of social workers in the Northwest Territories. It sets out a system to qualify and enrol registered social workers and licensed social workers, the definitions of unprofessional conduct, a complaints mechanism, and a fair system to resolve them. These standards were designed to protect both the public and social workers.
The bill advances with strong support from the Association of Social Workers in Northern Canada. The association was well represented at the committee’s public hearing. A representative from Arctic College also spoke in favour of the bill.
Following the committee’s review, a motion was carried to report Bill 8, Social Work Profession Act, to the Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.
This concludes the committee’s opening comments on Bill 8. Individual members from the committee may have additional questions or comments as we proceed.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. I’ll now ask the Minister responsible for the bill if she would like to bring any witnesses into the House.
Yes, I would, please. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Is committee agreed?
Agreed.
Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, can I please get you to escort the witnesses into the Chamber?
Ms. Lee, could I please get you to introduce your witnesses for the record?
