Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is the latest version of the "Contracts Over $5,000," I believe is the document the Member is referring to, will be tabled during this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I welcome the Finance Minister following through with that and putting accountability into action within the next few days. I made reference in my statement to the last evaluation of contracting practices released in 2009 by the Auditor General of Canada, who, of course, is our Auditor General, as well. It found flaws in the awarding of one in five solesource contracts. With new contracting limits and dramatic upstream in the solesource contract value, the potential for error and loss is there. Will the Minister commit to carrying out an evaluation of solesource contract awarding practice and performance for this fiscal year? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, first of all, I have to make a correction. I said "during this Assembly." I actually meant during this sitting of the 18th Legislative Assembly, so we will ensure we have that tabled. The Member's second question there, I will commit to having a review of this. The Member is correct, solecourse contract limits raising, I think it would be an ideal time for us to have a look at how we provide oversight to these contracts, so I will commit to that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm tempted to ask for even bigger and better things since I've got the Minister mostly saying yes.
Laughter
Could you reverse the 100… no? okay.
Laughter
I wonder if the Minister could give me even some preliminary thoughts about what this review might look like, who would do it, when it would be done and so on and so forth? Thank you.
No.
Laughter
No, I can't provide any preliminary estimates or thoughts on that, but I have committed to the Member that I will have a review of this and then we'll share the findings with the Members.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Finance Minister for that. One of the points in my statement was that some people seem to benefit disproportionately from solesource contracting. I mentioned deputy ministers and consultants who had multiple contracts among them for quite a steep value. I wonder if the Minister would consider, as part of his review, looking at whether there need to be some limits on the number of contracts awarded to a single individual or, alternatively, a total value of contracts awarded to a single individual? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Well, Mr. Speaker, the contracts, I'm sure, are awarded to people that provide a skill set and some value to the workings of the government. I'm not sure that it's fair to any individual if we put on a limit as to how many contracts they can get or what the amount is, but I have committed to the Member that I will review that. Again, I just need to stress that we -- obviously these folks that do get sole-source contracts, provide a service and a skill set that would provide some value for the GNWT.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
