Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Inter-Activity Transfers Exceeding $250,000, April 1 to December 31, 2016."
Masi. Tabling of Documents, Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents entitled "Northwest Territories Power Corporation Capital Spending Budget 2016-2017," "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 670-18(2): New Generators for Yellowknife Power Plant," and "Follow-up Letter to Oral Question 590-18(2): Land Use Plans." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on March 10, 2017, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, May 25, 2017;
AND FURTHER that at any time prior to May 25, 2017, if the Speaker is satisfied after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed?
---Carried
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chair, the committee wishes to consider the continuation of Tabled Document 7-18(2), Report on the Review of the Members' Conduct Guidelines, and Committee Report 9-18(2): Report on the Review of the 2016 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on support to Communities for Municipal Services – MACA. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We will consider the documents after a brief recess.
---SHORT RECESS
I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. Committee, we have agreed to continue consideration of Committee Report 7-18(2), Report on the Review of Members' Conduct Guidelines. I believe the last thing we did was a motion regarding recommendation 4. I will go to Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act be amended to expand the duties of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner to include oversight of the Members' Conduct Guidelines or Code of Conduct; and further, that the Commissioner be empowered to receive and investigate complaints from a Member or any other person respecting breaches of prescribed conduct and to recommend sanctions or penalties as appropriate to the Speaker; and furthermore, that the newly constituted Commissioner be known as the Ethics Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. There is a motion on the floor and in order. To the motion. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'm not going to drone on too long about this, but the committee looked at how enforcement of codes of conduct are dealt with in a number of other jurisdictions across the Commonwealth as well as in Canada; certainly it seems to be best practice that enforcement of codes of conduct is located within an independent party, and we already have such a party in the Conflict of Interest Commissioner who deals with pecuniary and financial matters. In some other jurisdictions, that individual also has the ability to receive complaints, carry out investigations, and make recommendations regarding breaches of a code of conduct. So it was the view of the committee that this would be a reasonable way for us to proceed and continuing to evolve and increase our transparency and accountability, and thus you have the recommendation before you. Mr. Chair, I would request a recorded vote on the motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.
Question has been called. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.
Mr. O'Reilly, Ms. Green, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. Moses, Ms. Cochrane, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. Schumann, Mr. Sebert, Mr. McNeely, Mr. Vanthuyne, Mr. Testart, Mr. Thompson.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, committee. The results of the recorded vote are 14 in favour; zero against; one abstention. Motion carried.
---Carried
Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the conflict of interest provisions of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council Act and other relevant legislation policy be the subject of a public review before the end of the 18th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. There is a motion on the floor and in order. Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. During the course of the committee's work, we had some submissions that mentioned that we should be looking at our conflict of interest provisions and make sure that they reflect best practices, particularly as a result of our government assuming new legislative authority and management responsibility over lands and resources. In line with that new responsibility, it does seem reasonable, and it was certainly reasonable in the view of the committee, that we should also take a look at our accountability as a government, and thus you have the recommendation before you. I hope that all Members will support this; it's another step in terms of improving public confidence in our government and accountability as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would request a recorded vote as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. To the motion.
Question has been called. The Member has requested a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.
Mr. O'Reilly, Ms. Green, Mr. Nakimayak, Mr. Moses, Ms. Cochrane, Mr. Abernethy, Mr. McLeod - Yellowknife South, Mr. Schumann, Mr. Sebert, Mr. McNeely, Mr. Vanthuyne, Mr. Testart, Mr. Thompson.
All those opposed, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand.
Mr. Nadli, Mr. McLeod - Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, committee. The results of the recorded vote are 13 in favour; zero against; two abstentions. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Anything further? Mr. O'Reilly.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The only thing I would like to say is I want to thank the committee again for all the work that was done, our staff that helped us get us to this point very ably, and I do want to thank all the Members for their passionate discussion yesterday. I think it was useful to have those matters discussed in public; it wasn't an easy discussion. I know that we will continue to work together on all of those issues as MLAs in this House. So once again, thanks to everybody for their thoughtful submissions yesterday. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that this concludes our consideration of Committee Report 7-18(2)?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. Committee, next we have agreed to consider Committee Report 9-18(2), Report on the Review of the 2016 Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Support to Communities for Municipal Services in the Northwest Territories, Municipal and Community Affairs. I will go to the chair of the committee, Mr. Testart, for opening comments. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Report of the Auditor General of Canada on Support to Communities for Municipal Services in the Northwest Territories, Municipal and Community Affairs was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on October 25, 2016.
On March 7, 2017, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its report on the review of the Auditor General's Report. This Standing Committee on Government Operations endorsed the 13 recommendations made by the Auditor General and recommended implementation of the recommendations by the department in a timely manner. We made recommendations related to the development and delivery of future departmental action or implementation plans and we made recommendations regarding the final action plan developed by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
These seven motions are going to be discussed later today and we focused primarily on ensuring when the receipt of -- when these processes, these audits, are going on the Standing Committee is involved in how the processes roll out and is recognized as a partner in evaluating these performance audits and ensuring that the government is living up to its obligations under its own rules.
We did not want to duplicate the efforts that had already been undertaken by the Auditor General and in their recommendations and by the department through their action plan, but we did evaluate the action plan and support the actions of government. So there will be again, seven motions to be considered today, and I hope to have the support of this House moving forward as we dispose of those motions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. I will open up the floor to general comments. Do we have general comments on the committee report? Seeing none, I will just let everyone know at home and in the Assembly that we are, as Mr. Testart said, going to have seven motions. The first would pertain to the recommendation on page 9. Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs take the steps necessary to ensure that the 13 recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General in Tabled Document 173-18(2) are implemented in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Testart. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is being distributed. The motion is in order. To the motion, Mr. Testart.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate we want to move on. All I will say is that the government has tabled a comprehensive plan to address these concerns. The committee is going to keep an eye on that and ensure they are done in a timely manner. Thank you.
