Masi. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marci Cho, Mr. Speaker.
Information about on-going business of the Legislative Assembly and its committees is available on the Legislative Assembly’s website. It currently includes a brief description of the purpose and role of committees in our consensus system of government. A list of committees and their memberships is posted, as well as each committee’s terms of reference. Links to committee reports are also provided.
The Legislative Assembly and its committees regularly use a variety of tools to engage the public and disseminate information including social media, our in-house television broadcasting system, and radio rebroadcasts of session proceedings. Town halls, public meetings, and requests for comments from members of the public have been limited to specific reports and legislative initiatives, yet provide a foundation on which to build.
The committee compared our Assembly’s public information and engagement practices with those of legislatures in Canada, the Commonwealth, and municipal governments. For the purposes of this cross-jurisdictional scan, public engagement is defined as a range of activities whose primary function is both to raise public awareness of the legislature and facilitate a two-way flow of information, ideas and views, requiring both listening and interaction on the part of both the institution and the citizen.
Other governments, public engagement programs, and expected results vary widely. Some jurisdictions focus on informing and educating the public while others go further, seeking consultation and collaboration. The committee seeks to develop procedures to best suit the Northwest Territories and have taken the following current and potential practices under consideration.
Information provision: Educational and training materials, website presence;
Public access: Visitor services, tours, exhibits;
Education: On-site/off-site activities and resources for teachers, students, and the general public;
Outreach: Informational workshops, (such as Ledge Talks, the Mace Tour, Caucus retreats, public hearings, town halls, and Legislative Assembly Television-LATV);
Facilitation: Platforms to engage the public, including online forums;
Media: Promotional and partnership initiatives with print, broadcasting and social media platforms;
Institutional structure: Leadership, resourcing, and models for delivering public engagement strategies.
The internet has become a primary means of communicating with the public; committee websites and online content are well-established in most parliamentary jurisdictions. The committee also recognizes that connectivity remains an issue in some NWT communities, as is proficiency with the internet among elders.
As the committee continues to develop options for our standing committees, lessons on emerging best practices have been drawn from diverse jurisdictions, including Scotland, Wales, the Canadian House of Commons, and the City of Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker. I would now like to hand off the reading to the Member from Nahendeh. Marci cho.
Masi. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker
Because a key role of standing committees’ is to hold government accountable, much of the committees’ work is driven by action (or lack of action) by the government. Members note that the Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, 2016-2019 includes pledges to:
maximize citizens’ ability to access government by using consistent approaches to social media, visual identity, and overall communications;
establish an Open Government Policy to enhance civic participation, increase the availability and accessibility of information about government activities, and explore new technologies for openness and accountability; and,
improve opportunities for meaningful public input into government decision-making by improving access to government public engagement initiatives and reporting on how public views have shaped government decisions.
Improved transparency and engagement by standing committees is a necessary follow-up to effective work in these areas by the government.
The committee suggests that standing committees focus first on informing and educating the public, which should result in increased accountability and opportunity for consultation. The key objectives of this approach are to provide useful information to support public understanding and to obtain feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions. A stepped approach should be taken based on results from previous measures and proven successes. Tools that can be utilized to educate and engage include the following:
Open Houses
Fact Sheets
Bulletins
Websites
Meeting Schedules and Calendar
Public Comment
Focus Groups
Surveys
Public Meetings
The promise made in using such tools is that standing committees will keep the public informed, listen to and acknowledge concerns and aspirations, and provide feedback on how public input influenced decisions. By doing so, our hope is to generate further engagement and discussion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to hand this off to the honourable Member for Thebacha. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Members of this Committee feel that standing committees should strive to operate in a transparent manner consistent with the seven core principles for public engagement described above, and the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions for consensus government adopted by the Members of the 18th Assembly. The recent adoption of these Principles and Conventions has had an impact on some of the work that this Committee was tasked with in the original referral motion. A recent addition to these Principles states: “The business of consensus government should be carried out in public, unless there are compelling reasons to meet in private. Public meetings should be the rule and not the exception.”
The following section has also been added to the protocol:
Public Briefings and Meetings with Standing Committees
Where Ministers offer or agree to a request to brief a Standing Committee, the briefing will be held in public. If confidential matters are expected to be discussed in the course of the briefing, or if they arise after the briefing has commenced, the Minister or any member of the committee may request that the meeting or a portion of it be held in camera.
The decision to hold all or a portion of a briefing in camera rests with the Standing Committee on the understanding that Ministers may be limited in terms of what information they can provide in public.
For the purposes of this protocol, confidential matters include:
the draft business plan or budget of a department or public agency prior to their introduction in the Legislative Assembly;
a proposed policy initiative, legislative proposal or bill prior to its formal introduction in the Legislative Assembly;
a personnel matter relating to an employee or statutory officer;
concerns with the performance of a specific Minister; and
any other matter, where a member of the committee or the Minister identifies the matter as one which is, or would likely be, protected by privacy and data protection laws.
A motion to hold all or a portion of a committee meeting in camera shall include the nature of the item to be discussed as well as the rationale for discussing the matter in camera.
This section applies only to standing committee meetings where a Minister will be present to brief committee, either at the request of the Minister or committee.
The intent of these provisions is that such meetings are as open to the public as possible, and the committee suggests this principle applies to the work of standing committees in general. The degree will necessarily vary according to the nature of work to be done.
For example, the committee suggests that it is not appropriate to provide public access to committees’ strategic planning, or sessional meetings of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, which focus on preparing for business in the House later in the day.
The measures suggested below would considerably improve upon the information currently available, and provide greater public access to committee work and understanding of it.
As soon as possible, working with Legislative Assembly staff, each standing committee should:
Improve the ease-of-use and access to committee web pages and add the following information to what is currently provided:
known schedule, and public matters being considered;
meeting notices, agendas, witnesses’ submissions and presentation materials.
Specific requests for public input and contact information for the committee should be prominently displayed and readily accessible.
Identify, in advance, whether a meeting or a portion of a meeting may be held in camera, and how this will be reflected in the agenda. A committee may decide to hold an in camera meeting or portions of a meeting in camera to:
deal with administrative and personnel matters;
consider correspondence or a draft report, including the Committee’s own reports;
receive a background briefing;
deal with subject matters requiring confidentiality, such as budget items or bills that have not yet been introduced in the Assembly;
do strategic planning, including sessional meetings of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, which focus on preparing for business in the House; or
any other matter that would or would likely entail private or privileged information.
3.
Ensure that consideration is given to the use of plain language and summaries where appropriate in public communications and reports.
Consistent with the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions, each Committee has the discretion to hold a meeting or a portion of a meeting in camera if it determines that there is a compelling reason to do so.
The committee’s proposals are consistent with the House of Commons Compendium, a guide to specialized procedural topics, which are instructive despite the many differences between committees of Canada’s Parliament and those of our legislature.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to hand this back to the Member for Frame Lake.
Masi. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures will:
Consider the potential for existing or emerging technologies to enhance public access to information and public interaction.
Do further consultation with individual members of the Legislative Assembly, Chairs of standing committees, GNWT officials, and members of the public and organizations; to elicit input on how to enhance transparency and public engagement in the work done by the Standing Committees.
The committee recognizes that further work should be done to examine a number of issues including:
What does “public” really mean in the context of meetings and does it include broadcasting?
What supporting materials for standing committee meetings should be public?
Should standing committee deliberations and decisions be made in public, and how might that be documented?
What, if any, standing committee correspondence is public?
How to ensure consistency of processes and procedures across the standing committees?
How often and by whom should standing committee procedures be reviewed in light of commitments to more public engagement and transparency?
The committee looks forward to conducting additional research and hearing from the public and Members on these matters. The committee will focus on practical and effective ways our standing committees can improve their transparency and engagement, and provide useful information to the interested public. The Committee plans to report further to the Assembly in June 2017. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh that Committee Report 5-18(2) be received and adopted by this Assembly. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour?
I'm sorry.
Oh, sorry. Member for Frame Lake.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'll keep this very short; I know we've had a long day here and probably go for a bit longer, but I did want to acknowledge and thank the committee members who worked on this report. We've done a lot of work together. I think we've had more meetings than any of the other standing committees. It's a huge relief to me personally to have this off my desk and a lot of personal satisfaction. So I want to recognize the work of the committee members: the honourable Member for Thebacha, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, the Member for Nahendeh and the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
We did seek input from Caucus as well, all of the Regular Members, back in August on our retreat, and I don't think we shifted direction in any substantive way. We did look at the concepts of public engagement. We reviewed our current activities, how it's done in other jurisdictions. We've made some interim recommendations in here and we hope to do some further work.
I think it's really important that the public and the media understand the fundamental changes that will take place now in how we conduct our business as a result of the changes to the Guiding Principles and Process Conventions and the tabling of this report in this House. We are fundamentally changing the way that we do our business as a Legislative Assembly. I don't think it's actually sunk in for us all, but now the default is that we will do our business in public rather than in private meetings. We will continue to have private meetings where necessary but we will start off our meetings in public and they will go in camera but for specified reasons. That's a very fundamental shift in how we do our business, and I can't emphasize that enough.
I mentioned, though, at the conclusion of our report that we are seeking further input on matters, including what's really meant by public meetings; what sort of supporting materials are to be made public as part of standing committee meetings; deliberations and decisions by standing committees, whether those should be done in public and how they should be documented; committee correspondence, should that be made public; how we ensure consistency across our standing committees and how we should regularly review our public engagement and transparency as standing committees.
So we do welcome further input from the public, the media, and our Regular Members, of course, all Members of this House, and we do expect to have a final report in 2017. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to further discussion about these important matters.
Mahsi. To the motion. Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Committee Report 5-18(2) has been received and adopted by this Assembly. Masi, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Government of the Northwest Territories Contracts over $5,000 Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation 2016 Annual Report," "Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation and Northwest Territories Power Corporation 2016-2017 Corporate Plan," and "Northwest Territories Coroner Service 2015 Annual Report." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Annual Report on Official Languages 2015-2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 312-18(2) Managed Alcohol Programs." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Tabling of documents. Member for Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table two documents. The first one is a Letter from the City of Yellowknife to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs regarding a Municipal request for legislative changes. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is called "The Northern Way Hybrid Micro-grids Improving Energy Security Through a Northern Alternative to Carbon Pricing.” Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
(Mr. Simpson): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What is the wish of Committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, committee would like to consider Tabled Document 143-18(2), Capital Estimates 2017-2018, and Tabled Document 163-18(2), Capital Estimates, 2017-2018 for the Department of Public Works and Services and Department of Transportation, and committee would like to consider the Department of Transportation today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(Mr. Simpson): Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
(Mr. Simpson): Committee will take a very, very brief break and we will resume with consideration of the documents.
---SHORT RECESS
I now call Committee of the Whole back to order. Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 163-18(2), Capital Estimates 2017-2018 for the Department of Public Works and Services and the Department of Transportation. We will continue with the Department of Transportation, which begins on page DOT-1. We will defer consideration of the departmental total until after we consider the activity summaries. So would committee please turn to page DOT-2, asset management, with associated detail on pages 3 and 4. But first, committee, I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation if he has any opening remarks.
No, I do not.
I would like to invite the Minister to bring any witnesses he has into the Chamber.
Yes, I would.
Sergeant-at-Arms, please escort the witnesses into the Chamber. Minister, would you please introduce your witnesses to the committee.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Deputy Minister Russ Neudorf and on my right is Assistant Deputy Minister Jayleen Robertson.
(Mr. Simpson): Thank you, Minister. Welcome to the witnesses. I'd like to open the floor to general comments. Do we have general comments on the Department of Transportation? I see none. We will now continue to page DOT-1 where the Department of Transportation begins. We will defer consideration of the departmental total until after the activity summary which begins on page DOT-2 with associated details on page 3 and 4. Comments or questions. Mr. Vanthuyne.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, on DOT-4, Highway No. 4 reconstruction is noted in here and so I know that isn’t detail and it doesn't provide descriptive substantiations here, but, Mr. Chair, we're aware that the City of Yellowknife along with territorial government, the Yellowknives Dene and a couple other stakeholders are involved in the Capital City Site Area Committee which oversees the grounds within the periphery of Frame Lake area, and a section of Highway No. 4 is within that periphery, and recently the City of Yellowknife had the opportunity to come and present to the Board of Management in a public meeting about the recommendations that they're putting forth for that Capital Site Committee to invest in in the coming years.
The actual report identified a potential crosswalk to be had on Section 4, kind of where I've recommended in the past where it would between the new hotel entranceway and the entranceway to the Legislative Assembly.
So I'm just wondering if the Minister could maybe share with us any detail that might be under -- now that the Board of Management has kind of approved the capital site area plan to go forward, can we get some insight from the Minister on what might be expected from the department and what role they might play in supporting that plan, and in particular public safety along that stretch of highway and maybe even more detail if possible with regard to the potential for a crosswalk there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
(Mr. Simpson): Thank you, Mr. Vanthuyne. Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since actually the Member has asked questions in the House, we've had consultation with the City of Yellowknife on the access road to the city, and we've presented a plan and had conversation with him about putting a trail from the power generation power utility piece there close to Niven and a trail along the side of the highway in front of Nova with a crosswalk, and we're just waiting to hear back from the City of Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
