Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just had a few more questions that I wanted to ask pertaining to former deputy ministers being hired by sole-source contract by this government. I’m just wondering if the Premier could let me know if there’s a cooling off period for former DMs and senior staff before they are sole-sourced by this government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, there is a cooling off period for DMs. I’ll have to check on the senior management file. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I was wondering, again getting back to… Again, this is about process, Mr. Speaker. The sole-source contract to BDK, I’m just wondering whether that cooling off period was respected and I want to ask the Premier, was there any discussion at the Cabinet table about the sole-source contract to this company. Was there any political involvement in the hiring through sole-source of this company?
Mr. Speaker, when departments fall within the policy that is in place, there is no purpose for it to come to Cabinet except, for example, negotiated contracts and, again, depending on the dollar value of that. Let’s be clear so we don’t muddy the waters when it comes to the Olympics. There was an RFP, is my understanding, for that Olympic process that went out there again in conjunction with our partner territories. But when it comes to department initiatives, if they fit within the policy and the approval limits, then that’s just normal course of business that’s out there. Thank you.
I wanted to follow up on that and I just wanted to get some clarity here so that I’m sure how this works and the public is sure how it works. Who ultimately makes the call on hiring a former deputy minister through a sole-source contract? Is it the other deputy minister, their former colleague, or is it the Minister of the department that makes that call, Mr. Speaker? I just wanted to be clear on that question. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the approval process is laid out. There are some dollar figures. So a contract could be let at a community or regional level and it could be let to a past employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories if they’re a year, two years, five years, ten years. As the record shows, and public accounts and our contracts document shows that there’s been those, an example of those, used by governments throughout different Assemblies on that initiative. Again, it depends on the dollar value. You could have directors issuing a contract all the way up to deputy ministers as well as up to Minister’s approval. So there are different steps. Again, without getting into details, this is the best we can do in providing you information. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Premier for that response, but I didn’t really get an answer that was satisfactory. Does the Minister of the various departments that’s giving out the contract, do they get involved in the decision to sole-source a contract to a former deputy minister? I think that’s a very straightforward question, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, on a normal course of business, when a deputy minister wants to inform the Minister of different contracts being issued that might cause some concern, they raise it to that level. So, yes, the Minister’s office can get involved in issuing a contract as the process allows for. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
