Debates of August 22, 2007 (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think a session goes by where I don’t have some questions for the Minister who happens to be responsible for Human Resources. We’ve heard again, during this sitting of the House, some more concerns regarding human resources and the rollout of this new upgrade. The first question I think that really needs to be asked is, I want to know specifically why the contractor, Answerthink, who was responsible for the upgrade, had their contract terminated on the exact date that the upgrade went live and that was July 3rd. I think I need an explanation on why that happened and who made that decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Dent.

Return To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure that it would be appropriate or correct to say that the contract was terminated. We have a contract with Answerthink for them to deliver a product and, as I’ve said previously in this House, we’re not satisfied yet that the product has been delivered in the state which we were told it would be delivered. So at this point, we’re not convinced that the contract has been completed, Mr. Speaker. We are expecting a team from Answerthink to be here next week, six people apparently, to work at resolving issues. Mr. Speaker, we think it would have been more appropriate had they come back on July 4th. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I want to ask the Minister why the contract was terminated on July 3rd? Everybody that was involved in the rollout of this new upgrade said that the contractor had to be in place following the rollout of that program on July 3rd. They weren’t. Their contract was terminated; they left. They couldn’t have been there on July 4th and I want to know who made the decision to send them home on July 3rd, resulting in hundreds of people not getting their paycheques across this territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our opinion, the contract is not terminated until the product has been delivered. So I’m not sure where the Member is getting his information that the contract was terminated, because we have a contract for a product to be delivered. Until it’s delivered in a working fashion, the contract is not complete. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister which invoices, if the contract hasn’t been completed, which invoices specifically is the government sending to Answerthink or Answerthink has sent to the government that they’re not going to pay? Which ones of those invoices is the government not going to pay and for what work that wasn’t supplied? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I had said in a response earlier in this House to Mrs. Groenewegen, that there are some outstanding invoices with Answerthink and I have provided direction to the department that they not be paid until we are satisfied that we have a working system. So I can’t tell you what specific invoices they are, but I do know that there is a substantial amount and we will wait and see what happens over the next few weeks in terms of getting the system up and running. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister, who specifically went against the advice of staff in that department to send Answerthink home on July 2nd before the system went live on July 3rd? Who was responsible for sending the contractor home and not having the ability to deal with the problems that resulted after the rollout on July 3rd when the system went live, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 176-15(6): GNWT Human Resources Information System

Again, Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure where the Member is getting his misinformation, but Answerthink was asked on two specific occasions just before the go live date, "Are you confident that this system will run? Has it run in tests? Will it actually perform as it’s expected to run or should we wait until September?" On two separate occasions the Answerthink officials said, "No problem, this is going to work, we’ve run it in tests, we know that it works perfectly, we will see that it will run without any problems." So, Mr. Speaker, the question was put to the company. The contractor said that they had a product that was going to work without any problems, that they had seen it work in tests and that it would work; but when it went live, clearly, it didn’t. So, Mr. Speaker, again, it comes back to Answerthink as having given the department the wrong information. Thank you.