Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask some questions to the Premier about the NGO. It looks like he was very well versed in the NGO field today and I had some questions about he talked about the mandates of NGOs and that they don’t look at that.
I’m wondering, because I’ve heard some concerns from the Hay River NGOs that are in that area, that the territorial NGOs that are set up and established in Yellowknife are not providing funding out into the regions.
Can the Minister please provide me some direction on how those NGOs’ mandates are looked at, and if they’re providing a territorial mandate, if they’re providing it to the regions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in response to a previous question, the Government of the Northwest Territories does not prescribe NGO mandates or activities and it’s up to the NGOs themselves to regulate themselves. If they’re raising funds on the premise that they’re going to be distributing the funds, then I expect they would do that.
The only legal requirement, as far as I know, is the requirement to register with the registrar. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I kind of disagree with the concept that we’re funding these territorial NGOs but the money isn’t getting out to the regions, they’re not providing money out to these other organizations that are basically affiliates of theirs. A lot of the funds are used to employ people in Yellowknife here, and other organizations are struggling for funds.
I’m struggling with the question because I don’t want to out any one NGO, but is the government looking into the mandates of territorial NGOs, looking at where they put their money regionally?
Again, in response to a previous question, I referenced the Government of the Northwest Territories Third-Party Agencies Accountability Framework. We have three categories of third-party agencies and they’re categorized based on accountability. The ones that require the most accountability are the ones that provide the most essential services. The second category provides services but are not as essential. The third category provides other services. Depending on the category that the NGO is in, that’s where the accountability comes in. So if the NGO that you’re referencing is in category one, they would be fully funded for financial and otherwise. If they are mandated to fund parties outside in other regions, then the government would make sure that they do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that they would have to do this, but what is the mechanism that the government uses to make sure that this is being done? Obviously, we’re hearing those concerns in our community and it’s not being fulfilled. The territorial NGOs that have agents in Hay River are not being represented.
What is the government doing to make sure that these mandates are being fulfilled?
I guess we can start by the Member providing me the information about who he’s talking about and what he’s talking about so that we can follow up.
As I said, we have three categories. The first category, the one that provides the most critical services, we go as far as providing multi-year contributions. Depending on the category, if the NGO you’re referencing is in the third category, then we probably would not even follow up as to where they were getting their funding. But if they were in the first or second category, we would make sure they did what they’re supposed to do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be very interested to see how the money is being accounted for. Just because we provide money and then we just leave it at that, we should be following the audit trail of where the money is being spent; what money is being sent out to the regions; if you’re a territorial organization, what are you doing territorially to represent all the people in the Northwest Territories. I guess I would like to see the territorial government fulfil the mandate.
How is the money audited for the territorial government for these organizations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There are four pillars to good government: accountability, participation, predictability and transparency. For those that are in these three categories, in the highest categories we require this transparency. So if we’re giving them money to distribute, then they would have to account for it generally through audited financial statements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Mr. Dolynny.
