Mr. Thompson?
Thank you. I guess everybody wants to agree to get out of here earlier.
---Laughter
Sorry, I must apologize to the Minister. I have a few questions on this page. Policies and communications, you didn't have any money at all in the last two fiscal years, but you have a $975,000 increase in this. Can you explain the rationale to this please?
Thank you, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, in complying with the information required in these different main estimates, we have done some reorganization to try and make things a little bit more clear. You'll notice that the corporate affairs line was significantly larger in previous years. We have done some reorganization to make it a little bit more effective and a little bit more clear. That $975,000 was in that area previously in corporate affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you. Directorate, there was a $231,000 decrease in it. Was that also part of the policy and communication or was some savings elsewhere? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. If you look onto page 213 you'll also notice that there's a position reduction within the directorate, and one of the positions that was eliminated was the assistant deputy minister of Human Resources. Some of those costs are directly related to the reduction of that position.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In regards to the expenditure category, computer hardware and software, you only have $6,000 in that area, and there's $105,000 the previous year, so we're not expecting any upgrades or new computers or anything like that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, for the specifics on that detail I will go to Michelle, or Ms. Simpson, my apologies.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Ms. Simpson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. In previous years, the department was totally evergreened and all of our systems are up to date, so funds were internally reallocated this year to cover compensation and benefits because the evergreening for all of the computer systems was done in previous years. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Ms. Simpson. Mr. Thompson.
My last question potentially on this page. I notice in travel more than 50 per cent is cut, so could they explain what the reduction in travel is and how this cost-saving measure is going to be implemented. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the budget in the area was reduced to reflect historical expenditures, what we actually spend in that area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess then historical, but the head increase was $86,000 previous years, revised and main, so how is it historical if this was the main… like the budget? Just I'm a little confused in this matter. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'm not sure what the rationale was for the increase in the main estimates in 2015-16. We'll have to go to Michelle for some detail on that. But what I was indicating is we've reduced the amount to what we actually spend and traditionally spend over time in this particular area. We may have had a spike in one year. I'm not sure what the rationale was there, I wasn't around at that time, but our traditional expenditures, what we actually spend, is about $35,000.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you.
No further questions. Calling Human Resources, directorate, operations expenditure summary, activity total, $4,547,000. Agreed?
Agreed.
Moving onto page 213, Human Resources, directorate, active positions, information item. Any questions? Mr. Thompson, go ahead.
I agree to ask a question. The Ministers talked about the assistant deputy minister being removed, was this part of the cost reductions or is this part of retirement or what was it? Was it planned or not planned? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the elimination of that position is part of the reduction exercise. The position was vacant and has been vacant for some time.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Any further questions? Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. As it was in directorate and it appears to be here in labour relations, over the last couple of years there seems to be an increase in contract services and just quickly jumping ahead in management recruitment services, there seems to be a significant increase under contract services. I wonder if the Minister can please give an explanation to the House as to why the department's overall contract services appear to be going up and maybe we can get a description on what Human Resources requires contract services for. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, if we were to take the main estimates and spread them out over a long period of time, you would notice in the Department of Human Resources in this particular area every four years or so you'll see an increase in the amount of contract services. It is directly related to collective bargaining. The Government of Northwest Territories is currently involved in a number of collective bargaining discussions with the UNW, the NWTTA, the medical association, although it's not completely related here, but those costs will spike every couple of years as those negotiations come to the end of their term and we have to get the experts, the lawyers, and others that are going to help us through the negotiating process. That is what that is specifically for. They will likely go down if and when we conclude our negotiations for a couple years depending on the length of the negotiated terms, and then they might spike back up again.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Vanthuyne. Questions? I see none. Moving on to page 215. Human Resources, labour relations, operations expenditures summary, activity total, $3,310,000. Questions?
Agreed.
Agreed. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree to ask more questions. In regards to your fees and payments, I notice a reduction, almost a 60 per cent reduction, in your amount of money here. What is the rationale for that?
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the fees and payments program management budget were re-profiled to support increased compensation and benefits, so you'll see a slight increase in that area. There was also a decrease to the budget which reflects the historical expenditures once again what we're budgeted for compared to what we spent. We were moving to have these more in line with what we have spent traditionally or historically.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Historically, is that over the number of years or just last year? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
The department looked at past actuals over a number of years to try to determine what we're actually spending as opposed to what was budgeted and there was some variances, so we've moved them down accordingly.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Thompson.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I notice about an $18,000 increase in travel in this one. In the other section there was reduction in travel, so could the Minister explain why the increase in travel in this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is the division that does investigations and works with the UNW on resolving grievances and whatnot, so there is some travel and there's also a requirement to do some site investigations. Our positions and our employees are throughout the Northwest Territories so these individuals do have to travel. In reviewing the actuals, we did notice that this is one of the areas under travel where are numbers were higher than they were, say, in the directorate, so we've had to increase it accordingly in order to accommodate the investigations and other work that this division is doing.
