Fair enough. I'll be polite about it. I'll say how many senior level staff has he added to his office through the EIA process that are new? So I can think of at least one. This is at least two. If we have a senior envoy person that never existed before, I'm curious on how many additional people he's added to this department. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. So the senior envoy is not a new person. It's the same person who is in a different role. We have an associate deputy minister with Housing NWT and an associate deputy minister with the health care system sustainability unit. And those are the senior positions that have been recently added. Although I'll note that the associate deputy minister position already existed in Housing NWT. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
So if we consider this just shuffling of positions, the senior envoy would not be a new position but if he staffs it, when would we define it as a new position? Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. So there was the principal secretary moved into a new role, so the role is new. I'm not sure if there's a technical definition I can provide about when a position is new, but the position did not exist before it was created so in that sense it's a new position, but it's not a new person in the position. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, yeah, I mean, we can play semantics around names. But I mean, if he wants to give it another name, it's still a different pay -- it's still the same pay, same whatever. So I'm going to allow him to call it whatever he wants; I don't care. But if he backfills the principal secretary, then it's a new body and a new pay line. That's the issue I'm really drawing at to clarify.
So my understanding is there's more staff being added to that office to support the Premier and the executive. So how many new, outside of what was previously there at the start of this government, have been added to this office? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
There's as many people in the executive hallway now as there were when we started. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
I am trying to avoid to name names out of respect for the individuals. It's not the individuals at issue. I'm really getting at the fact that we've had quite a bit of spending at the executive level, especially when we talk about fiscal responsibility, realigning and whatnot, and I'm just curious on how much more this section will grow, and I'm not sure that there's any benefit or value.
So with respect to the senior envoy, how often will this individual be in Ottawa in comparison to their current position being in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. So that's still to be determined. We -- you know, we're in the middle of a leadership race right now. It is prior to, you know, potentially an election period. The House is not sitting. And so there's different times in Ottawa. Sometimes there's a lot of people around. Sometimes there's not a lot of people around. Sometimes there's transitions when you want to have a voice there. Sometimes there's not. So it's dependent, and it's hard to really say with the current situation in Ottawa what that split of time will be. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go back to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you. So this is a two-part question. The first part is what evidence-based decision-making was designed to show that this position of an envoy is justified; and, what type of political credentials does this person bring to the table through evidence that shows that they are the right person for this envoy position?
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. So we've been working, you know, now for a year trying to work with Ottawa and, you know, experiencing success in some areas, less success in other areas, and it was clear that there was a need for, you know, a different approach or augmenting the current approach, so not even going to say necessarily different. I don't want to get into an individual public servant's resume on the floor of the House, but the individual in the position has significant experience working in Government of Canada, in various departments at various levels in the Government of the Northwest Territories, with Indigenous governments directly, and I mean those are the kind of qualifications I would expect for someone in that role. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you. Well, as we all know, a principal secretary doesn't have to bring any credentials to the job other than being the political whisperer of the Premier where they do what they do, and I don't have a problem with that specifically. But, you know, if we're sending them fully armed financially with special titles, maybe even red carpet and cherubs -- I'm not sure what it'll end up looking like -- I'm curious -- you know, I'm curious about what they will bring to their table and their ability. That said, can the Premier, or I guess in this case Minister, highlight how many other provinces or territories who have a envoy -- special envoy in Ottawa to do this job. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. So other jurisdictions have a lot more political staff that can make those connections. I don't have a breakdown of other jurisdictions. I do have our main estimates and our business plans in front of us, and so I can discuss those, but I can't provide a list right now to the Member of positions that might be comparable in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and so on. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Well, I think it's fair -- I'll concede it's fair you're not here to answer, nor were you here to answer for other provinces and territories. I'm curious as to the justification of the position. In other words, what are the measurables and how are they comparable to other provincial or territorial organizations. So in other words, are we doing what they do? Have we put political people there? Do we know what they're doing in a sense of why we're doing it? Because we have to know why we're doing this and what we're asking for, and that's what I'm looking for. So can I get that detail including what's the mandate of this individual. There must be some letter -- letters of patent saying, you are going to do this, you are going to deliver that. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the mandate is to build relationships, really. We've been working with Ottawa. We've had success with some offices, federal offices. Other federal offices, they have been more difficult to engage with and get information from. And that's important to be able to have that ability, especially when we have asks that we're bringing forward to Ottawa that we need to move along. We need to make sure that they're not falling off anyone's radar and so this is an opportunity to ensure we're pushing that. I have had a lot of -- I've had reach out from federal Ministers about this position. The envoy has had a reach-out from federal officials as well, as well as Indigenous governments, so there is already a lot of interest in this, and those relationships are being built. Even just by announcing this position, we are gaining some traction in Ottawa. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. I'll go to the Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll keep it short because the time is running out, and I'm sure other Members are eager to ask similar questions or other questions. But I would just say that one of the difficult challenges here is evidence-based and how does that translate to result and to say that while they're there to build relationships, that's impossible to measure which makes it wonder how do we know if we're getting value from this effort whatsoever. I don't mind doing business differently, and I've already said this in the House, I'm very disappointed in the Premier that he can have a Cabinet discussion with this and talk about it with Indigenous leaders but not at any time bring it to caucus. And that's the issue, bring it to caucus and talk to Members about it and say hey, this is what I'm looking at doing, this is what I'm hoping to achieve. And that's the problem. So what is the measurables of this particular job that we know that you're -- you know, we're committing more expenses to the government at a time when we don't have them, so I'd like to know how we're going to know what they're actually doing and how we can see it's being done. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Minister.
Thank you. I understand the Member's time has run out, so I'll just keep it quick that we're not committing more resources to this. I know that was a statement that was just made, but that's not accurate. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Are there any other questions from Members? I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just going to follow up both with the previous lines of questions. First, on land claims, when -- or land rights negotiations. When were the negotiating mandates last revised for the GNWT's side of the table? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Two years into the last government. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
Okay, I'm trying to do quick math. So halfway through. Is there a plan to update the current ones to reflect the priorities -- the changing priorities of this government, of the Indigenous governments, the Government of Canada potentially, and the increasingly precarious geopolitical circumstances we find ourselves in? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I know we're not quite in the intergovernmental Indigenous relations section yet, but I can speak to this.
So the Government of Canada has -- you know, seems to have an always evolving approach to negotiations, and I think at the same time that we're trying to figure out what that evolution means for the negotiations, the Government of Canada is trying to figure out what it means for negotiations as well, and so we are trying to understand that to help us land on mandates, so. And, you know, with changes in governments, there's also considerations that need to be taken into account, you know, what is an incoming government's willingness to engage with Indigenous governments and to try different things in negotiations, how are they going to change course, so all of those things do have to be taken into consideration. The mandates, the negotiations don't happen in a vacuum. They do happen in the real world. So those are all live considerations that the Member raised. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. I appreciate that we might have a coming opportunity with at least a change in leadership -- or a guaranteed change in leadership at the federal table at least. Are we able to commit to new offers within -- new offers at all outstanding tables in the life of this government? Is that something the Premier is willing to do? Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you. Well, I can't speak to every single table but, you know, it's very -- it could be a possibility for sure. I'm hoping to move things along in the way that they need to be moved because, you know, we're only here four years, and I do want to see movement on these. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm going to go to the Member from Range Lake.
Thank you. That's good news to hear. Can -- is -- I'm not sure if this has been done but it certainly is something -- it's one thing to have modern treaty or a claims -- a comprehensive claims process, but some -- in many cases, treaty obligations aren't being met by the Crown and the agents of the Crown. So can the Premier speak to this or commit to an analysis of outstanding treaty obligations that the GNWT might have to its signed treaties, so not the stuff that's not done, but the stuff it has done, and take an inventory, what's outstanding and what still needs to be delivered in terms of treaty obligations to our treaty partners. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the Minister.
Thank you. Maybe I could get the deputy minister to chime in on that one. Thank you.
Thank you. I'll go to the deputy minister.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. With respect to the GNWT's relationship with Indigenous governments and organizations in general, we are examining our general approach. We do think that because it's such an ever-changing environment, we need to provide updated guidance to staff at all levels across departments and agencies. And I would say that with respect to the Member's question, modern treaty partners are a specific subset of Indigenous governments and organizations that require even additional attention and care given the duty of the Crown and those relationships. So we're looking at providing guidance specific to them which would be a new development for us. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you. I'll go to the Member from Range Lake.
