Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm pretty sure I asked the exact same question, and I asked it to the deputy minister. If I could perhaps impose on him to answer the Member, please.

Madam Chair, this is exactly why Mr. Wind is here. I will turn it over to him, please.

Yes, please, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The item in purchased services is with respect to telecommunications services. There have been some updates to phone systems over the last couple of years, and as such, there have been some cost savings. That is an item that has not yet seen itself reflected in budgets. I certainly could commit to confirming whether or not that cost savings is one that will need to be reflected over time. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 468-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Affirmative Action Policy;" and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 472-19(2): Government of the Northwest Territories Affirmative Action Policy." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, the superintendent of insurance, their role is to ensure that the regulations are being followed, not to go in and create an insurance industry run or administered by a Crown corporation or otherwise by the Government of the Northwest Territories. My colleague already, from the Housing Corporation, has described the efforts that they are using to try to ensure that this is not a barrier. My colleague over at ECE is certainly working with school boards to ensure that, again, they are not facing barriers. There is certainly a lot of work happening in the departments that are relevant to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to look back to 2013, which is certainly long before my time, to speak to what may have happened in the entire course of that period. I can say that, with respect to the provisions where it says that the Minister may direct that the annual report be printed and published, prior to my opportunity to have this role, I can't speak to what may or may not have been directed. I can say that it is my intention to direct that that happen in the future. Thank you.

Again, I just want to ensure that we are looking at what the actual problem is and where the right solutions are, whether they are in the Housing Corporation, whether it's with ECE, or whether, in fact, it's with the superintendent of insurance with the Department of Finance. That said, with respect to solution-oriented approaches and talking about different ways of governments doing things, yes, I have no difficulty in saying that the Department of Finance can reach out to the Saskatchewan Government Insurance Program, investigate it, and see whether or not that's a tool that would benefit...

Just to be clear, the role of the department and the role, more specifically, of the superintendent of insurance certainly is to regulate, but it is not something that can get involved in the private market. The insurance superintendent doesn't change the market prices, doesn't influence in the market; they regulate the market. I would say it's not necessarily fair to suggest that we are not taking that seriously. I would also be cautious that the problems and challenges being faced by homeowners, school boards, and businesses may well be different. I certainly agree, and the department is...

I can't say enough: This isn't simply a reduction exercise. By going about this in a way that is methodical and that relies on evaluation rather than just cherry-picking or targeting from somewhere within senior ranks of what programs or services we think might not provide value, that is not the way to make an evidence-based decision about good government value. That is exactly why we want to go department by department, why we want to actually look and do that inventory as to what is, in fact, being offered and then involve the frontline workers to ensure that we understand the true value...