Thank you, Madam Speaker. In my Member’s statement I was talking about decentralization. My questions today will be for the Premier.
With the government spending millions of dollars on housing and public works preparing for decentralization, does this government have a general overall plan of how this decentralization and these positions will go out to the regions?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Of course we have a plan. We have described it many times. We have a three-phase plan. Phase 1 was where we had departments identify positions to be decentralized. We decentralized 18 positions. Phase 2 was to decentralize through devolution. We are very close to completing that. With our new organizational design, we expect there will be approximately 90 positions that have been decentralized. Now we are entering phase 3. Once all the work on devolution is done, we have requested all of our deputy ministers to identify opportunities for decentralization. Through this budget, when it’s passed, we will have monies to go forward so that we can put in place the infrastructure so that we can decentralize positions.
I have difficulties believing the Premier when he talks about decentralization and phase 2 of devolution, which put more than 200 positions into Yellowknife and only 90 out to the regions, so how is that decentralization? It sounds like centralization to me.
What is the government’s plan going forward to decentralize positions and what is that plan specifically? We’re currently planning to build houses in certain communities. We must have a plan that we’re going to put specific positions into those communities. What is that plan?
Those positions were already in Yellowknife, so that’s why they’re here. The federal government, in negotiating the Devolution Agreement, required that those positions would have to stay where they are for at least two years, so that was the deal.
Now, as part of the business planning process going forward, we expect to have a plan within the next six months. Through the business planning process, we will identify what positions and where they will go. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I think the Premier has devolution and decentralization mixed up and tied into a knot.
I guess my questions would be: How does the Premier expect this Assembly to complete their goal to decentralize? We haven’t accomplished that. We haven’t gotten to that point where we actually have a plan. Is the Premier committing to that six-month plan that we’re going to see how decentralization is going to roll out into the communities in this Assembly?
I know what devolution is and I know what decentralization is. Decentralization is where we take jobs and move them out into the regions, into the communities, so that people most affected by decisions are the ones that make the decisions and they’re closer to where they live. So, I know what decentralization is.
We are working on a plan. We have the Department of Finance, the Minister of Finance will be leading through the Refocusing Government Cabinet committee. He will be developing a plan. We will be building 30 houses a year in the communities. Along with increased services, we expect to have about 169 houses built over the next three years. We will have a plan so you’ll know what positions will be moved, you’ll know where they’ll be moved and where the houses will be built and, of course, along with the required office space. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate that there is a plan. My concern is that we’re already committing to building 30 houses and we haven’t completed the plan yet. Shouldn’t we have that current plan in place before we implement those houses and some of those office studies?
How do those two link? How does the government go ahead and spend millions of dollars on housing and office studies when we don’t even actually have the plan in place? How does the Premier explain that?
That’s all part of doing business. We have to get the money for houses first. In the past, every time we talked about decentralization, we said, well, we don’t have housing in the communities, we don’t have office space, so we can’t have decentralization. What we’re saying now is we’re not going to hide behind those standards of lack of housing, lack of office space. We’re going to have a plan that will tell you where we’re going to build those houses, and we’ll be able to tell you what positions and programs will be decentralized. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Premier McLeod. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
