Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency. Earlier today I spoke about some of the good work that the Minister and his staff are doing with regard to this. I also mentioned that there is a need to accelerate a number of the initiatives that we have made commitments to. I understand that the Minister and his staff are in the process of holding public engagement on the open government policy. I wonder: can the Minister inform us if this policy will be coming forward as a draft to the standing committee? In other words, when will Members see a copy of the draft? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister responsible for Public Engagement and Transparency.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member opposite is quite correct; we have been holding public engagement meetings throughout the Northwest Territories. We had the opportunity of visiting all of the ridings, and there was a total of 13 meetings; actually, 15 meetings, because there were two extra ones in Yellowknife, meetings with NGOs and the media. We are now preparing a What We Heard document. The last meeting with the public here in Yellowknife was a mere two weeks ago, and we are still receiving comments. A What We Heard document is in the process of being prepared, which will be tabled in this Assembly. Then Cabinet will be preparing a policy which we will, of course, take to the appropriate committee. Thank you.
Thank you to the Minister for his reply and for his commitment to bring forward a draft policy to the respective standing committee. We, of course, look forward to seeing what the department has heard during their consultation period. Mr. Speaker, for the record, can the Minister advise this House when he is planning to introduce ombudsman legislation?
One of the commitments of this legislature and included in our mandate, of course, which was developed by all of us together, is to establish the office of an ombudsman. We have sent a legislative proposal to standing committee, and we are looking forward to their response.
To be frank, I think that the standing committee has kind of given a response already to the Minister with regard to the LP information, but I am going to move on. The Minister knows that the mandate calls for this government to find ways to report to the public on how their input is influencing government decision-making, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell this House the approaches that he is considering to fulfill this commitment, and when he might see the results of this work?
The position on this is multi-faceted. There are many things that we are doing. I mentioned already that we have been having public engagement with respect to open policy. I have referred to the ombudsman legislation, which hopefully will come forth in due course. Also, we are looking at improvements to the ATIP Act. I can advise also that, quite apart from those initiatives, of course, Cabinet has been going out and we have held five open meetings with the public in Norman Wells, Inuvik, Hay River, Fort Simpson, and Yellowknife. Further meetings of this type are being planned. I also, with respect to this issue, don't think I could forget the good work that is being done by the Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure, which is opening up the committee system.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I appreciate some of the things that the Minister has identified as the initiatives that we are doing as a government and that are under way, but there is one that is specific, and I am going to give the Minister another opportunity to maybe clarify, and that is: we have indicated that the mandate calls for us to find ways for the government to report to the public on how their input is influencing government decision-making. Again, I would like to know from the Minister if he can tell the House the approaches that they are considering to fulfill this commitment, and when we might see the results of this work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, an important element of the Open Government Policy was public engagement. We went around to the communities, and one of the things we did hear was concerns about, when information was provided by the public, how it was dealt with by the government. We wanted to make it clear that there were different types of engagements with the public. There were sessions in which information was merely provided, and others that we were seeking their input and engagement, so that helps us form legislation and policy. Engaging with the public is an important element of what we have been doing, and it will be reflected in the What We Heard document and policy.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
