In the seven audit projects concluded, the audit reports completed in 2013-14 made 46 recommendations. Twenty-two of the 46 audit recommendations have been implemented to date. Thank you.
So that number is about half. So what we’ve been able to piece together today is that the government has a corporate risk management framework, it follows some of its audit recommendations that we heard, about half of them and, again, it’s if they choose, it doesn’t report any of these findings publicly and it doesn’t share this information with Regular Members.
Can the Minister of Finance agree this is a correct summation? Thank you.
I’d like to add a bit more information before we get to that conclusion the Member has made.
It takes time for departments to address issues that arise from an audit. For example, all the recommendations from 2011-12 audits are now complete, while only 62 percent of the recommendations of the 2012-13 audits are currently considered complete. These things take time. Some of them are more complex and stretch out a little bit longer.
Audit reports, recommendations and follow-up are internal management documents. In that regard, the GNWT follows a standard set out by the Institute of Internal Auditors. The audit reports are not shared with MLAs, standing committee or the public. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is at the root of my problem here today. As I said earlier, the sharing of information within a consensus government is critical, yet it appears that we have a division of this government which apparently acts above such law of the land when it comes to transparency and accountability to its people.
Will the Minister commit to the sharing, with committee, and hopefully with the public someday, the current findings and past audit findings within the context of corporate risk management? Thank you.
We, of course, whenever possible, share as fully as we can as a matter of practice with internal audits. There is sometimes highly sensitive, sometimes personnel information, sometimes information that may form the basis for a criminal investigation, so I am unable to commit to the request by the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about this Forfeiture Act and the proceeds of crime legislation. There are jurisdictions in Canada right now, such as BC, Alberta and Nova Scotia, most recently, that have a Civil Forfeiture Act and it has been brought up in the House before on this side of the House.
I would just like to ask the Minister responsible for the Department of Justice, is the department looking at establishing such legislation for the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes. We have had that concern come up previously. We are currently talking to other jurisdictions about their experience with this. Some of the preliminary discussions we’ve had with other jurisdictions indicate that we really need to be careful, because in a lot of cases the cost to store the assets seized sometimes ends up costing more than the assets themselves at the end of the day.
We have some discussions ongoing with other jurisdictions and I am glad that the Member brought the issue up again today. Thank you.
The assets that would be seized, I know that storage has become an issue, but we also have some departments that have big compounds that might have storage space that we can use.
Would the Minister, seeing that is an issue he said has been brought up in discussions, would he work with other departments, such as Public Works and Services, Department of Transportation and possibly MACA, to see what kind of storage space they have in their compounds to utilize those for such property that would be seized? Thank you.
Yes, if we get to that stage, we certainly will have to talk to departments that have facilities or places to store things around the territory because, of course, not all communities have secure storage facilities, not all communities have towing equipment and the ability to seize a truck, a trailer, skidoo or ATV and get it from point A to point B. That’s something that as we go forward with looking at this, these are all things that we will have to take a look at. Thank you.
Earlier in my Member’s statement, I mentioned that specific… I have stood up in this House and talked about the bootleggers, drug dealers and the way they transport these illicit drugs and the alcohol to the communities.
I would like to ask the Minister, would he be willing to put in, I wouldn’t say a pilot, but putting in a temporary Forfeiture Act as such, specific to illicit drugs in terms of selling as well as alcohol and the bootlegging? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, seizing vehicles has occurred in the past when it comes to bootleggers. It continues to be an option where it is feasible. We also have a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Canada in respect of sharing the proceeds and disposition of forfeited property, the sharing of the amounts paid or recovered on account of certain fines and sharing of certain monies transferred to Canada by the governments of foreign states. We have an MOU in place with the Government of Canada that allows us to share some of those funds. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of my colleagues just made a good suggestion here that when we do seize some of these assets, that if we sell them that we can start building some compounds to store them, so that might be an option here.
I would just like to ask the Minister, in terms of seizing property, has the Minister looked at doing any types of freezing on businesses that run illegal activity, freezing either if it’s a hotel or maybe a restaurant, has he done any of that type of freezing in terms of the Forfeiture Act? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, not to my knowledge. I don’t recall a business or a restaurant or things of that nature being seized.
I will respond to the Members concern about the proceeds that we do get. These funds that we receive under the MOU that I mentioned earlier are used to fund crime prevention activities here in the Northwest Territories. Currently, there is about $125,000 in that fund. In the past three years, the department has received the following: in ‘11-12, just over $44,000; ‘13-14, about $25,000; ‘14-15, about $55,000, so that gives us a total in the account of about $125,000.
I will mention – I know the Member is a big supporter of the Not Us! campaign – in ‘11-12 we took $80,000 and helped pay for that program through the proceeds of crime, so that was a good initiative. Also in ‘11-12 we provided $20,000 in additional funding toward the development of the Domestic Violence Treatment Option Initiative and we are currently assessing other projects where we can take some of that $125,000 that we have and direct it in areas where it’s going to make a difference. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. With devolution came new responsibilities, and one of those new responsibilities was for oil and gas. We’ve been talking a lot about it in the last little while and I’d like to ask some questions of the Minister of ITI around his job as the regulator.
We’ve inherited that job from the federal government with devolution. I’ve found when dealing with the environmental assessment at Giant Mine, which the Minister responsible was the Minister of ENR, that they had set up a system within that department which separated the Minister from the job that the members of the department were doing as a proponent.
So I’d like to first ask the Minister of ITI, what has he done within department of ITI to ensure that there is the same sort of division between the regulator and the department? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We set up an office of the oil and gas regulator separate from the ITI department. It’s in a different building. It’s a stand-alone operation. I’ve delegated the day-to-day authority in most cases to the chief conservation officer, who is the executive director of our oil and gas regulator office, and we’ve set it up in a way that allows me to continue to do my job as Minister and also be the regulator. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister for that. So, the Minister has delegated his authority as regulator and yet he still references himself as regulator. So I’m struggling to understand, and I think the public is probably wanting to know, how does the Minister call himself a regulator and yet delegate the authority to someone within his department well within the oil and gas department section of his department.
So, how does he reconcile that he is the regulator but he has delegated that authority as well? Thank you.
The Minister of ITI has been designated the regulator under the Oil and Gas Operations Act, and that is legislation and that’s where I’m identified as a regulator and, again, delegated those authorities to the executive director who is also the chief conservation officer in our oil and gas regulating office. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. Still not that clear, but I’ll give up on that one. I think it’s a matter of language.
So, I’d like to know, first of all – not first, this is my third question, I’d like to know from the Minister, when issues come before the House or they come before a committee, Members very often want to have some input into the issue, and very often it has to do with an issue where the Minister and/or his delegate will have to rule on a decision.
So, I’d like to know if the Minister, as regulator, or basically him as a regulator, if he can accept input from Regular Members on an issue related to oil and gas, and if he can, how would that occur? Thank you.
On April 1st, of course, we inherited the regulatory responsibility from the federal government. There are processes in place and we have to respect the processes and not fetter the regulator, not fetter the process that’s in place through legislation, legislation that we’ve inherited from the federal government.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks Mr. Speaker. I didn’t really hear an answer there so I’ll just give up on that one as well.
This is a new process, as the Minister has said, and any time there’s a new process I am a firm believer in doing an evaluation of it. So, I’d like to know if the Minister has plans at this point, even though it’s early in the process, does he have plans to do an evaluation of how our role as regulator and our role as accepting input on issues is working, and when does he expect that that evaluation would occur? Thank you.
Thank you. The office of the oil and gas regulator here in the Northwest Territories hasn’t been overly busy. That’s not to say that we can’t take a look. We’ve only had the responsibility now for six months. I think after a year would be a good time to look back. I’m also looking forward, again, to getting in front of committee. I know we want to get in front of Regular Members with the executive director from our oil and gas regulating office, the deputy minister and myself to answer any questions that Members may have and I certainly look forward to doing that soon. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Colleagues, before we go on today, I’d like to welcome Rose Ann Snow and her sister May Inglanqasuk from the Beaufort-Delta. Welcome to the House today.
The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use my second opportunity to get some information from the Minister of Justice, as we all have been recently informed in a very troubling circumstance that’s happened. We’ve been informed lately about a Japanese tourist, what appears to be a single lady, who has gone missing for reasons unknown and, of course, it’s best that we don’t speculate, but certainly it’s hard not to fear the worst.
Residents such as myself and Northerners at large would like to know what the Department of Justice is doing. People have been asking me questions such as what is the RCMP doing, what resources have been committed to engage this process to help find her.
What is the GNWT doing to connect with this issue, because it is urgent. Finally, what can Northerners do to help in this very terrible, troubling circumstance? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, this is a very concerning issue for everybody. People do want to find this lady. We have confidence in the RCMP that they will locate her. Of course, we know Yellowknife certainly is a very caring community and that people want to lend a hand and want to try to help out in any way possible in trying to locate her. It’s important that people go through the right channels with search and rescue teams, working under the search commander so they don’t inadvertently do any harm to the search.
I’d encourage people, if they do want to help out and want to get involved, to contact the Ground Search and Rescue here in Yellowknife. Their phone number is 446-4727, or 446-GSAR, and they will be able to help assist in the search. Thank you.
Thank you. I appreciate that information provided by the Minister, and I didn’t give him any notice. It’s an issue that we’re sitting here thinking about.
Is there any type of formal coordination for this normally? I need to think that this is a one-off circumstance that we always try to figure out as it happens. When Northerners go missing, we’re familiar within the Deh Cho and MLA Menicoche’s riding of Nahendeh that somebody had gone missing at one time and it was difficult to get the resources up and running immediately.
What type of things do we have in place so when a terrible circumstance happens like this, Northerners can immediately get involved and know that proper steps and processes are there working as quickly and diligently as possible? Thank you.
Thank you. The RCMP have protocols, they have processes in place when it comes to search and rescue and trying to identify or find a missing person. We have to remain supportive of the RCMP’s efforts and their investigative skills. We also would ask Members and the public to be supportive of the RCMP at this time as they continue to search for this lady. Thank you.
I believe in the Yellowknife region, I’m not sure about South Slave, but I know we have the SARA, so that’s the search and rescue group. I know, Mr. Speaker, in your region we have the Rangers and we have certain resources that we can tap into, but Northerners being Northerners – the wonderful type of people we are – we want to help.
What more can the Minister do from his particular position and what type of public communications can he send out from the Department of Justice to provide opportunity for people to lend a hand?
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say – and this will be my last question – this woman is more than just a tourist. She appears to be a single woman by herself, and that sends chills down my spine that the worst could happen and I want to make sure we’re doing the best job we can. That’s not with any criticism on anyone, I just fear that we need to do as much as we can and I know Northerners everywhere want to participate because I have no doubt she’s in the prayers of everyone. Thank you.
I can assure Members, I can assure the public that we are doing our best. I know the RCMP are doing their best to try to locate this lady. We do have – and I mentioned a number earlier – if people do want to get out and help in the search, the number again is 446-4727 and that’s the Ground Search and Rescue. If folks want to help out, please call and we can use some help in the search. So again, thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In our region we’re finding it very difficult to attract apprentices, people who want to get into the trades, because of the quality of the education they are receiving in high school. It makes it difficult for them to enter into a trades entrance program or to get into the Apprenticeship Program because of the lack of skill or training.
I want to ask the Minister, is his department doing anything to improve the quality of education for Grade 12s that want to enter a trades program or a Trades Access Program or get into an apprenticeship program?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that is our overall goals and objectives. That’s the very reason why we are re-evaluating and re-looking at our overall education system. More specifically in the small communities, whether it be the Sahtu region, Colville and the small communities, we’ve been told that their education system is not compatible or comparable to the larger centres. So those are some of the areas that we are currently making some drastic changes. So it will reflect on that, as well, and yes, we want those individuals to be Grade 12 graduates or even entering the Trades Access Program so they can retain journeyman ticket holders in their region. Mahsi.
Thank you. The overall picture the Minister has painted, looking at the overall system, re-evaluating in the last 10, 11 years as an MLA, we know in the Sahtu and the North that our education system is not comparable to the larger centres. It’s a known fact. As Mr. Premier said yesterday, it’s a cold hard fact. The cold hard fact of this issue is that we are not in the same ranking as the larger centres.
So, knowing this for the last 11 years, is the Minister willing to direct his department today to start looking at Grade 12, looking at and asking the communities, these are the programs that are going to help them to get into a trades program and to get into an apprenticeship program? Thank you.
Mahsi. Yes, those are the discussions that we are currently having, even directing my department to focus on those areas. There’s been a needs assessment that’s been completed just recently and that will give us the facts on what’s required, what kind of training should be delivered in the region and education and experience levels. So those are the facts that we will be working on with the college and with my department.
Specifically on Grade 12 graduates, they should be entering trades or college or university programming instead of upgrading. We’ve been told that before and I’m fully aware of that. That’s the very reason we are making those changes within our Education Act. Mahsi.
Thank you. It’s a well-known fact, also, that government operates and makes changes at lightning speed, maybe a year or two.
So I want to ask the Minister, given the time within our Legislative Assembly, can the Minister direct his staff to dedicate a staff person to go into the Sahtu communities to look at career planning, counselling, so they know that they need to take math and science, so when they finish Grade 12 these are the opportunities in the trades and apprenticeship and the students have a fair chance at least within the life of this government? I know that the Education Act will take a lot of discussions and we cannot afford to wait and just continue to fail our students. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, part of the process will be that we have regional representatives and career development officers, as well, even from our headquarters. Yes, I totally agree with the Member that those regions that have an economic boom that’s happening, we should be focusing in those areas, whether it be the Sahtu region or the Deh Cho region. More specifically, now we are talking about the Sahtu, how we can prepare our individuals, community members so they can enter the workforce, what kind of training is required. More specifically, producing those individuals, those Grade 12 graduates and continuing high education, whether it be trades or other professions. Yes, I totally agree. I did instruct my department that we should have those career development officers focusing in those regions as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently in the Sahtu a couple of students couldn’t make it into the Trades Entrance Program because they couldn’t qualify. These are recent Grade 12 graduates, students that we graduated last year. We give them a huge celebration, the communities celebrated along with them, but when they came to write the Trades Entrance Program they didn’t pass. The Trades Entrance Program is 70 percent. These are students who were failed today.
I want to ask the Minister, why are we failing these graduates who want to get into a Trades Entrance Program, a career, to aspire to the goals that this Assembly set out for them? Why are we failing them?
