Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to recognize some people from Tu NedheWiilideh. I'd like to recognize in the gallery William Buggins. He's from Rocher River, so you will hear more about Rocher River later on this week. Caitlyn Beck from Ndilo, from Range Lake North School, is working with us here today, as a page. I have two interpreters interpreting for the languages from Tu NedheWiilideh, Mary Rose Sundberg and Tom Unka from Fort Resolution. Mary Rose is from Detah. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Mayor Mark Heyck, from the City of Yellowknife, and Sara Brown. She's the executive director with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, and I believe she's still a constituent, but I know that there's a larger delegation here, as well, on behalf of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities. I want to welcome them to the Chamber today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Charlie Furlong, longterm leader at the community level as well as the NWTAC, leadership level, and also Laura Boileau, William Greenland with the new day care program, who we just met yesterday with a very meaningful presentation, and also, Ernie Abel the executive director of the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize all the members of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities. I'd like to single out Donna Lee Jungkind, the deputy mayor of Hay River, and also Craig McMaster, the mayor of Enterprise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Mr. Charlie Furlong from Aklavik, president of the NWT Association of Communities; Clarence Wood, councillor from Inuvik and a member of Inuvik Twin Lakes. I would also like to recognize Mayor Mark Heyck, a man that I've had the opportunity in the past to do a lot of work with; and the rest of the NWT Association of Communities. Although I'm not the Minister responsible anymore, I still support 33 Strong. Thank you.
Masi. I'd just like to remind Members that, if you're going to speak, wait until the light goes on on the microphone, just so we can keep records. Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize my constituent and uncle, the mayor of Aklavik and also former Chief of Aklavik for many years. Also, I'd like to recognize the mayor of Paulatuk, as well, Ray Ruben. When I first started in leadership, I sought these two leaders and learned a lot from them, and I'd just like to thank them for that. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize staff in A New Day program, Laura Boileau and Mr. William Greenland, and also I believe Mr. Roy Erasmus is in there. Also the leadership of the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre as well, Ernie Abel. Then also acknowledging of course the people from the Northwest Territories Association of Communities who I believe also include Mayor Craig McMaster from Enterprise. So welcome. Mahsi.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome constituent Ray Ruben, the Mayor of Paulatuk. Ray's sat on the Paulatuk Community Corporation, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, and the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers. I just want to welcome him here today. It's nice to have a constituent travel from your region to visit the Legislative Assembly during session. Also Charlie Furlong who's sitting up there with Mr. Ruben. Welcome to the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to welcome Mr. Clarence Wood, long-time councillor for the Town of Inuvik, also His Worship Mayor Heyck, as well as a couple other leaders who have paved the way for us, Mr. Charlie Furlong and Ray Ruben. I'd also like to welcome my cousin William Greenland joining us here again today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Laura Boileau and William Greenland from A New Day. I'd also like to recognize Ernie Abel from the Tree of Peace. My good friend Annie Harry who I'm glad to have here. Then the NWT Association of Communities, Ms. Sara Brown, the Chief Executive Officer; Mayor Mark Heyck, the City of Yellowknife; Mayor Charles Furlong from Aklavik; Mayor Ray Ruben from Paulatuk; Mayor Craig McMaster from Enterprise; Councillor Donna Lee Jungkind from Hay River; and Councillor Clarence Wood from Inuvik. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome many of the people who've already been welcomed: the staff from A New Day program; the leaders of the NWT Association of Communities; and I saw Alex Lambrecht, the new President of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour. I think it's really important for us to have leaders here who we can collaborate with and who support us in the things that we're doing. Thank you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to welcome the staff of A New Day, as well as everyone here from the NWTAC, including Deputy Mayor Constituent Donna Lee Jungkind, as well as Enterprise Mayor Craig McMaster. Welcome, we're happy to have you.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to recognize two pages from my riding in Kam Lake; Josh Saturos and Storm Robbiard. We really appreciate all the work they've been doing, along with the other pages here, who help make our lives a lot easier. I'd also like to recognize all the mayors and members of the NWT Association of Communities who are here working in partnership with us, and also the staff of A New Day program, Laura Boileau, William Greenland, and also Ernest Abel, Executive Director of the Tree of Peace. Keep up the good work and thank you all for joining us today.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take this time to recognize facilitators of A New Day men's program; William Greenland, Roy Erasmus, and Laura Boileau. Also, William and Roy are residents of Yellowknife North, so I welcome them. I'd also like to take this time to welcome my former city council colleague and the mayor, His Worship Mayor Mark Heyck, as well as all the members of the NWTAC, but in particular president Charlie Furlong and Executive Director Sara Brown. Welcome everybody, and thank you for being here.
Masi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. If we missed anyone in the gallery, welcome to our proceedings, it's always great to have an audience. Masi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to acknowledge a well-known lady who is passionate and also a very strong leader that needs no introduction down the Mackenzie Valley. Mr. Speaker, this is a lady who does not stand to any obstacles and when she speaks, she is heard. She is an excellent role model to the youth community, education and the Mackenzie Valley strongly support her. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Sahtu Region, I would like to congratulate Cece Hodgson-McCauley who will be receiving the 2017 Indspire Award to be held in Ottawa on March 24, 2017. An award that recognizes the successes of people who have achieved significantly and made a high level of contributions. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Today, I have two sets of questions. I'm going to start with the other set, which are questions for the Minister of Finance, and they're about sole-source contracting. These questions are important, Mr. Speaker, because they help us understand how this special set of contracts is managed, and it reassures the public that their money is being well-spent. So, first of all, could the Minister explain for the benefit of the general public, vendors, and the Members of the House, why increases to the threshold for sole-source contracts were approved and what value that brings to taxpayers? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these were raised after some consultation, and we'd heard from the business community that because these hadn't been raised in 20 years, they thought it was time to raise them. The value that it brings to residents is that they will be able to then go out and secure some services right away without going going out for RFP, because that takes up a lot of time and money for $5,000. So this was made at the request of the business community and in consideration of the cost to administer small contracts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you to the Minister for that answer. In 2012, as the Minister is aware, the Auditor General of Canada released a status report on the 2009 audit on GNWT contracting for goods and services. They found that significant improvements had been made, but the errors were still found in 15 of 44 sample contracts. As a result, the Auditor General considered progress on contract administration to be unsatisfactory. Can the Minister tell us what improvements and quality assurance processes have been made since then?
Mr. Speaker, the procurement of shared services was established which improved the consistency of the approach, and the procurement of shared services ensures that all steps required for RFP or tender are followed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister's commitment to quality reporting, which he made earlier in this sitting, on government contracts will help increase accountability, or course. In 2012, the Auditor General also found cases where departments had updated their own records but not the contract registry and reporting systems report that is tabled in the Legislative Assembly like the one we saw yesterday. What has the government done to ensure this registry and reporting system is reconciled with its internal departmental records?
In the future, all reporting will be linked to SAM, which is our financial management system. So departments won't be maintaining separate systems.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. That's a logical solution to that issue. Given that contracting services are mainly provided through the shared services model, over which individual departments have very little authority, can the Minister please explain our current system for monitoring and evaluation to ensure that contracts meet departments' needs and the public gets the best value for money? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Procurement Shared Services was established in part to ensure that our government gets value for money, and departments continue to be involved with all aspects of the contracting, including reviewing tenders and the RFP processes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier in relation to our mandate commitments to empower local governments. Earlier today I raised the City of Yellowknife letter that requested a number of territorial government acts be changed. The city has been after our government here for almost a decade to make changes to these pieces of legislation. How will our government respond to the city's request for changes to territorial legislation on making what amounts to housekeeping changes that the city urgently requires to better meet the needs of its citizens? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We received the letter yesterday from the mayor of the City of Yellowknife, and also the Member has been a city councillor for nine years, so he doesn't seem to appreciate the good working relationship that this government and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has with the NWT Association of Communities. However, having said that, we will take the letter; we will break it out into different pieces; even though we are working on many, many legislative priorities, we will work with the city to make sure that these proposals are dealt with in a timely fashion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'm disappointed that the Premier is going to talk about my track record here in working as a city councillor. I know that when I was on the city council, we always worked well with the Yellowknife MLAs, so I'll try to keep this as a fair set of questions here. But why I raise these questions to the Premier is he is responsible for intergovernmental relations. He's also responsible for mandate commitments, and so I'm just going to ask the Premier for firm commitments when it comes to changing the Cities, Towns and Villages Act to allow for local improvement charges in relation to energy retrofits and the visitor levy. Is that something that we're prepared to do in the lifetime of this Assembly?
