Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Finance.
Ministers’ Statements
Minister’s Statement 185-19(2):
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to improving Indigenous representation in the public service, and ensuring Indigenous employees are genuinely included, celebrated, and given opportunities to succeed. We are committed to creating a public service that is welcoming, culturally competent, and free of discrimination; one that serves in a way that respects and includes the Indigenous peoples and communities of this territory.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Department of Finance is launching the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action Plan, by developing business practices that include recruitment and retention strategies. The framework will empower departments to recognize the importance of Indigenous perspectives within their policies, programs, and services. The framework will encompass and support existing GNWT programs designed to recruit and retain Indigenous employees while also providing opportunities for innovation to address recruitment and employment barriers for Indigenous residents, applicants and employees. By providing the tools to develop detailed implementation plans, this framework will support departments as they incorporate these valuable Indigenous perspectives into their teams at all levels and result in a workforce that is representative of the people and the population it serves.
The action plan will take a wholeofgovernment approach where each department and agency will work together and share the responsibility to reach the goals and action items to improve Indigenous peoples' success within the recruitment process and within the public service as a whole. Each department and agency will be required to create an Indigenous Employment Plan to address the objectives and set attainable benchmarks for success. The development of unique departmentspecific Indigenous Employment Plans allows departments to address barriers to employment, retention, and advancement of Indigenous people that are specific to their departments and communities.
Mr. Speaker, the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action Plan were developed collaboratively. Representatives from the Department of Finance worked with officials from Indigenous governments and utilized targeted internal engagement to hear firsthand what they identify as barriers to employment for Indigenous people.
The top barrier identified by Indigenous governments was the over inflation of job descriptions. We have listened to what we heard, Mr. Speaker, and our very first action item is to conduct a detailed review of all GNWT job descriptions.
We also heard that we need to ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to enact meaningful, attainable change throughout the public service. As I noted, each department will be required to complete departmentspecific Indigenous Employment Plans with specific Indigenous employment targets, and we will hold ourselves accountable by ensuring that those plans and targets are tied to deputy head and senior management performance appraisals.
Mr. Speaker, these are only two examples of the eleven action items we developed in collaboration with Indigenous governments. This collaborative approach ensures the framework and action plan will meet the concerns of Indigenous governments and the people we all serve. It will allow us to become more engaged, more responsive, more aware of the residents' needs, and provide flexibility in our responses and the development of programs and policies to ensure meaningful changes are made within the public service and felt within our communities and by our employees.
Mr. Speaker, the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action Plan will improve Indigenous representation and ensure that the public service is diverse and inclusive. It supports continual improvement in our recruitment and retention practices and provides opportunities to celebrate our progress as we move forward in setting our sights on new levels of success in Indigenous representation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Applause
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government needs to do more to help the artisans of the NWT in accessing traditional tanned hides.
Mr. Speaker, over the last several years I have met with numerous artisans who have voiced the same concern that concern is the lack of access to traditional tanned hides which they require to make a variety of products. Many of us here are familiar with these products which include earrings, slippers, crow boots, gauntlets, mitts, vests, jackets, gun cases, and more.
Mr. Speaker, when those who purchase Indigenous fashions that require hide and fur, they want the appearance; they want the touch; and, most importantly, they want the smell of the traditional tanned hide. What people may not know is the amount of work that goes into the traditional tanning of hides, such as moose and caribou.
Mr. Speaker, I have had a number of artisans explain to me the process of traditional tanning to me. There are up to 13 steps that include skinning, soaking, stretching, fleshing, scraping, thinning, braining, wringing, drying, softening, and smoking. This process can take up to 3 weeks consisting of many hours to complete.
Mr. Speaker, tanning requires access to raw material, special tools, patience, and a lot of hard work. The practice of tanning hides is a long tradition with Indigenous people. Mr. Speaker, this skill may be in jeopardy of being lost if this government, and Indigenous governments, do not provide the support to those few who have retained the knowledge that was passed on to them and who now want to pass it on to others.
Mr. Speaker, we have a Hide and Fur Program in place which was, in part, meant to support the need for artisans to have access to raw materials, such as hides and furs, at affordable prices. Either it does not have sufficient product, is not well advertised or, may be unaffordable for artisans. We need to do more in this area.
Mr. Speaker, I would challenge the Minister of Responsible for ITI, the Minister of Responsible for ECE, and the Minister responsible for ENR to collaborate and develop a standalone program that would provide financial compensation to those that are tanning their own hides and to those harvesters who bring the hides out after a successful harvest.
I will have questions for one of the foregoing Ministers at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. As I understand it, the Tlicho AllSeason Road is supposed to be completed and opened tomorrow. It is clear that the road has been supported by various Tlicho governments and that it will undoubtedly bring some benefits. However, there does not seem to be a coordinated approach from this government to ensure those benefits are maximized and adverse impacts are managed.
I was also surprised to learn a few months ago that the road doesn't even go into the community of Whati and that extensive work costing a further $9 million will be required on an access road. I'm not sure how that was overlooked in the planning of a development that will ultimately cost this government over $400 million over the next 30 years. Like the Inuvik to Tuk Highway, the community at the end of the road does not appear to be adequately supported by this government.
There is also some question about this government's unfulfilled measures on the environmental assessment of the project. There are concerns about the adequacy of GNWT's adaptive management of the road's wildlife impacts.
A number of recently submitted plans, including the Interim Wek'eezhii Boreal Caribou Range Plan, a Tlicho AllSeason Road Wildlife Management and Monitoring Plan, and a permit application for boreal caribou and wolf monitoring, all remain unapproved.
A report on woodland caribou was recently released and it recommended that there be a limited or no resident harvest in the area around the Tlicho AllSeason Road and that further research is needed on the Indigenous harvest.
I continue to raise the potential need for sport fishing restrictions on Lac La Martre where there is already a small but successful fishing lodge. No Minister for GNWT seems to want to follow that up on that in any way.
There doesn't seem to be any funding in the GNWT capital budget for park or campground planning or business development for Whati to get better prepared for the road opening. You'd think we would have learned some lessons from the Inuvik to Tuk Highway, Mr. Speaker.
I have lots of questions around GNWT's preparedness and support for communities at the end of new roads. I'll put some of those to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources later today. Merci, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are living in an age of heightened public awareness and interests in police accountability and transparency. And rightfully so, because this is a matter of public safety. It is our duty as legislators to hold the government to account, and policing services falls within that purview. We must ensure that our justice system, specifically our territorial police services, are being run above board at all times. Therefore it is extremely important that our policing services have proper oversight, including financial accountability for public funds.
Mr. Speaker, policing in the NWT is carried out by the RCMP. The RCMP, however, is a federal police force and is guided by the NWT Territorial Police Service Agreement. That agreement was signed between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories on April 1st, 2012, and is set to last for 20 years, until March 31st, 2032.
Upon review of this agreement, I noticed some areas of concern that I find troubling and lacking. Firstly, Mr. Speaker, this agreement states each fiscal year the territories will pay to Canada 70 percent of the cost providing and maintaining the territorial police service. According to our 2021-2022 main estimates, policing services accounts for 36.1 percent of our total operating expenditures, amounting to $48.2 million. What I find problematic, Mr. Speaker, is that there are no requirements for the RCMP to provide public financial statements of this expenditure. The RCMP commanding officer's obliged only to provide the NWT Justice Minister with a multi-year financial plan for the territorial police service. However, there is no mention of any financial accountability to the Legislative Assembly of this expenditure breakdown.
Mr. Speaker, I speak unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, there is a contract management committee within the Territorial Police Service Agreement and it is not accountable to any public body. It is not obliged to submit any public reports of its discussions, there no mechanism for legislative oversight or transparency. It would be nice to know what our public monies are being spent on in this area.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, there is also the issue of jurisdiction of policing services in the NWT. Since the RCMP is a federal agency, its internal management and administration of police standards and procedures remain under the control of Canada. Thus, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very limited in authority over the RCMP. Our territorial Minister of Justice only has the authority to set objectives, priorities and goals of the territorial police service. This only furthers the lack of transparency and accountability of the RCMP in the NWT.
I will have questions for the Minister of Justice later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak to our education system and my concerns that we are not providing our youth with the tools needed to succeed in life.
Mr. Speaker, eight years ago, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment published the Education Renewal and Innovation Framework. It was a tenyear strategy guiding the department's activities until 2023. The intent was to radically change the NWT's junior kindergarten to grade 12 education system.
In 2020, the Auditor General of Canada published a report called Early Childhood to Grade 12 Education in the Northwest Territories, which gave the GNWT a failing grade on education in our schools. The audit found that the GNWT needs to.
Better monitor the performance of the education system;
There are problems with data collection and analysis including graduation rates;
The GNWT needs to monitor the education authorities on their compliance of policies and accountability frameworks;
The department needs to do more to meet students' needs; and .trades should be a focus in schools.
The Auditor General made 77 recommendations and the Department of ECE accepted them all, including providing additional supports to principals of small schools and teachers of multi grade classrooms, which are common in our small communities.
The department did a midterm evaluation of the Education Renewal and Information Framework in 2018. The evaluation found that graduation rates are lower in smaller communities and that a considerable number of students in high school are not advancing to the next grade level.
In response to both the audit and internal evaluation, the department prepared an action plan to improve JK to 12 student outcomes in the NWT 20202021 to 20232024.
Mr. Speaker, now in November 2021 we are waiting for a proposal to modernize the Education Act. We are also waiting for
The labor force analysis;
The department's updated skills for success strategy; and,.
The transformation of Aurora to proceed to a polytechnic university.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.
Unanimous consent granted
Mr. Speaker, we know what the problems are. We understand that many NWT residents do not have enough schooling to meet NWT job demand in the immediate future. The 19th Legislative Assembly mandate includes increasing student education outcomes to the same level as the rest of Canada. Mr. Speaker, I'm afraid we are out of time to reach this commitment. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this session, I'd planned to speak to a range of issues from tourism and business relief funding to mental health supports for residential school survivors and those experiencing addiction. However, I've spent most my time lately consumed with the healthcare crisis at Stanton; a crisis that this Cabinet appears to be characterizing as unavoidable.
However, according to the Local 11 union president, the UNW has been raising this concern to the department for at least 18 months now; concern about the low morale of Stanton personnel who have been experiencing increasing rates of burnout for years.
When asked last week, the Minister of Health stated that no other wards at the hospital were facing a similar situation to that of the OBS unit, which suddenly closed last Monday. However, over the weekend everything I read and heard directly from the nurses themselves shows that this is just not the case and more shutdowns are imminent.
One way nurses feel unappreciated has been the lack of GNWT acknowledgement of how COVID has changed the way they practice. Changes that include.
Increased safety protocols and PPE requirements;
Additional personal and patient testing; and,.
Everchanging travel and isolation rules that have required nurses to use their own leave after an exposure to COVID at work or after travel.
When the federal government provided money to the provinces and territories for COVIDrelated healthcare expenses, every other jurisdiction used that money to give frontline workers hazard pay or bonuses. BC and New Brunswick nurses got raises of $4 per hour; in Ontario it was $2 an hour; and in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and NFLD and Labrador, nurses received payments ranging from $800 to $2000. The Yukon, Nunavut, PEI, and Quebec offered retention or signing bonuses and increased nurses' pay. The NWT is the only province or territory in Canada where frontline staff have not received any pandemic or hazard pay. Our frontline workers deserve retroactive pandemic pay now.
NWT nurses' stress is not only due to the current COVID situation. For years, NWT nurses have been working in conditions not seen in southern hospitals including through the design, construction, and opening of our new hospital, which has experienced significant growing pains. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement.
Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Nurses here have additional duties like an expectation to train and orient locums as well as to provide instruction and training to students and brand new nurses. Formal training is often inadequate with inexperienced nursing staff performing specialized duties that would require formalized training in the south.
Mr. Speaker, this is not acceptable. Our residents deserve nurses that are adequately compensated and at the top of their game, happy to be at work, not beaten down by years of poor treatment and disrespect. I will have questions for Minister responsible for Human Resources at the appropriate time.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think over time, we come to speak of different departments as if they were living and breathing persons with their own personalities and their quirks and their faults. I often talk about the Department of Lands still operating as if it was a department of the federal government and that devolution is not really completed.
Mr. Speaker, we talked about Justice as if it's a bunch of lawyers and they have this really small kind of world view and are very risk adverse. And Mr. Speaker, often when we talk about the Department of MACA, we talk about their inability to get legislation done. Mr. Speaker, this is a conversation I would like to end in this Assembly and future Assembly's going forward. And I think no one better than Minister Thompson is suited to do it.
I believe ENR, after taking over 12 years to get the Wildlife Act as finally developed the internal capacity to pass bills and work cooperatively with Indigenous governments. I even believe the Department of Lands will get its Public Land Act Regulations in force and is on its way. But I don't believe this of the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Speaker.
In any Legislative Assembly, the Department of Justice by far surpasses other departments in bringing forward bills. We know in this Assembly the Department of Justice, being full of lawyers, is good at getting legislation done. I would like to, one day, say that about the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Speaker.
I believe at the root of this, it is an underfunded department and under prioritized. We know that we need to do more about public safety and emergency response. We know that climate change will make these concerns even more relevant. The majority of infrastructure publicly held is owned by municipalities. We know we need to do more work on municipalities’ infrastructure first before our own.
Mr. Speaker, I believe many of the holdups and fights we have having in this territory can be solved through MACA legislation. Whether you are dealing with a hamlet, a designated authority, a city, a town, or village, or a bunch of people living on public land somewhat illegally due to leases, that is all issues that can be solved through MACA legislation.
These are large conversations. They are related to selfgovernment negotiations. There is decades of work to be done here. There is decades of work to be done in building standards, in how we fund municipalities, and how the future of this territory works. I will have questions for the Minister of MACA if whether we can get MCACA on the right path to be a great department at passing legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.
Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'm going to be speaking about housing again. Housing crisis in Tlicho regions.
Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be talking about housing today because it is an important issue. Our community members in Tlicho region and all of NWT are facing a very serious problem. Many of our people do not have a basic need being met, which is housing.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that each person deserves a home, a home that keeps us safe, warm, and secure. Home is a place of love and family. It is the foundation of our wellbeing.
Mr. Speaker, we also know that having a home gives us a higher quality of life. In order to provide a high quality of life, each person in the community must have a housing available that is affordable to every income level.
Families without secure housing live with greater fear, stress and instability. This impacts the children, the youth, and youth in many ways. Some of the children and youth are unable to live with their own families. As a result, everyone is spread into different homes. Without a home, our people are having a hard time to provide for themselves and their family. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, many community members in the Tlicho region want to own their own homes but it is unaffordable because of high mortgage and high cost of living. Mr. Speaker, one of the ways to address the housing crisis in Tlicho region for the NWT Housing Corporation is to promote homeownership program. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm looking at housing and housing assistance while we're going through a housing crisis, too, in my riding of Nunakput. There are no market housing, Mr. Speaker, in the communities in Nunakput. All the Housing Corporation does not have enough houses to address the issues we all know that. And even the public housing we do have is inadequate. There are houses, when the wind blows a certain way, that you have snow coming in, west wind through the doors in through the windows.
I think, Mr. Speaker, what we should be doing is making a I brought this up in June and I see that the Minister and her staff did allocate funds for the communities in my riding, but we need more. Mr. Speaker, we all need more. The money's sitting and what we should be doing is trying to access it. I think CMHC's part of our problem. I know they're the ones that funds us. I think my Minister's been really adamant in trying to do her best to get this stuff done but it's not but it's not being a priority of our government. The priority of this government, everybody should have a roof over their head and be able to not couch surf. Like right now, for instance it's minus 36 in Sachs Harbour right now. How hard it is to go and buy something? Not hard. Couldn't be hard because then you could just go buy those prefab units and go buy 20. Can't be that hard. Got enough staff there to give her a hand, and I know she's wanting to help because when I talk to her she's passionate about her job and she wants to do best for the people.
Mr. Speaker, I really think as a Regular Member this side of the House, I really think we should be really taking this as a priority on our behalf of our constituents. People are suffering. Not only that, the people that do have houses that did before the have lost their job or retirement or something with COVID19 for instance in Tuk, you have water pumps going down, there's eight people in the family, they can't even afford a water pump so how do we help them? And like good job for Fort Good Hope, I'm really proud to hear that, of what they've and I'm going to be looking to start societies in all my communities I represent to work with the Minister and our government to get proper housing for the people we represent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this sitting, as we work through the capital estimates, the GNWT tabled a procurement policy review. I support infrastructure spending and the economic development it brings. But for your territory to see the benefits of this capital budget, we need procurement that increases benefit retention and grows the NWT private sector through meaningful spending.
While I recognize the GNWT is preparing a response to this report, there are some simple procedural changes that could be implemented immediately to improve fairness and transparency in the procurement process today.
Businesses have concerns about communication and procedural fairness of how bids are administered, advertised, or requested, and how the government is evaluating value for dollar. Businesses feel they are being shut out of the opportunity to apply on bids and do not believe their BIP status is giving them the intended advantage.
Mr. Speaker, less than one percent of businesses are benefitting from their BIP status. BIP was recognized as ineffective on bids over $1 million and that the total value for contract expenditures for BIP businesses is decreasing. The report supports some concerns from the businesses that I serve but one of the strongest points of change I see has nothing to do with changing a policy or reevaluating a bid system.
Mr. Speaker, it begins with a shift in focus. Procurement is viewed as a service to government. The role of this unit is to take the procurement needs from government departments, format them, put them out into the global market place, and then work with government departments to choose the bid, largely a process that ends in lowest dollar winners. But one easy fix is an evolution of procurement to industry facing service that communicates and consults with industry for it is relationships with business owners by spending time outside the office, works with vendors to regularly improve process, analyzes data to identify NWT industry gaps, and strives to bring procurement to NWT businesses.
Mr. Speaker, I believe there is great value in involving and connecting our disjointed and inconsistent procurement policies but I believe there is more to gain from a shift in the public service of procurement to focus on who they serve and that is the people and interests of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Friday evening, our Inuvik volunteer fire department responded to a fire at the temporary location for the Inuvik warming shelter in Veterans Way. All staff and residents got out safe but due to the damage, they were relocated to a new location a newold location I should say, on Berger Street. And as per the fire chief's public update, it was stated that it was an electrical issue.
Mr. Speaker, on Saturday night, they then responded to another second fire at the same location, and this ended in a total loss of the building.
Mr. Speaker, I want to take this time to thank the Inuvik fire department and all its volunteers who went out and fought this fire in the minus 30 temperatures. Your service to Inuvik is extremely valuable.
I also want to thank the Northwest Territories Power Corporation staff that restored the power to our residents as quick as they did. I would also like to make a note that my constituents were after the Minister of NWT Power Corp.
Mr. Speaker, the residents in this facility are our most vulnerable, especially during these winter months, and I'm thankful for the quick action on the Housing Department that got the residents into their temporary location right away. But, Mr. Speaker, moving our most vulnerable from an old vacant building to another is not a solution. We have been told that we are to receive a GNWT homeless strategy, yet we have not received this.
Mr. Speaker, in our territory we have many under housed residents in all of our communities. In the smaller communities, we tend not to know that they are there. However in our regional centres, and the capital, we see many residents that tend to move to access some of these important services they cannot get in their home community.
Mr. Speaker, this crisis is more than a shelter. It's the services and the support that these residents require, as well as the shelter, to be able to begin assisting our underhoused residents of the Northwest Territories. I will have questions for the Minister responsible for Homelessness and Housing Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the NWT Territorial Police Service Agreement, there is no mention of the need for the RCMP to provide the Legislative Assembly the financial statements of its yearly expenditures. Can the Minister explain why there is no public financial statements from the RCMP submitted to the Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP as the service provider in our agreement with Public Safety Canada provides so the financial accountability is to the federal government essentially. The responsibility for RCMP financial statements rests with the RCMP and the Government of Canada and is submitted as part of the public accounts of Canada. The RCMP expenditures are reported to the Legislative Assembly through the public accounts of the GNWT. Costs related to the RCMP fall under the policing services activity of the Department of Justice. Accountability for the Territorial Police Service Agreement, or TPSA, and costs incurred as part of our contract are provided by the RCMP through the department as part of that contract and actuals reviewed monthly between the ADM of Justice and the commanding officer. Then a financial account is provided to the department within three months of the end of the fiscal year. The agreement between ourselves and the RCMP contained almost 20 different reporting requirements that the RCMP provide us. These requirements are varying levels of details and are all part of the negotiation of the 20year agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to sharing the RCMP's multiyear financial plan for territorial police services with the Legislative Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the multiyear financial plan is a planning document used in the contract is a forecast of potential upcoming financial implications under the Territorial Police Service Agreement. The document is a highlevel first step to business planning to address the identified priorities. So after the multiyear financial planning process, business cases are prepared by the RCMP for the Department of Justice. Those business cases are reviewed to determine if an FMB submission is substantiated, then, if FMB approves the submission, the Members of this Assembly receive the estimates or receive the adjustments in the main estimates. And we've seen that a number of times so far during this Assembly.
But I'm all about transparency, Mr. Speaker. And I can commit to looking into whether or not we have the support of Public Safety Canada and the RCMP, and the other jurisdictions who contract with the RCMP, to provide those documents. The department's going to look into whether other jurisdictions do this, and I'd be happy to share whatever we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under Article 19.0 of the Territorial Police Service Agreement, whatever the territorial Justice Minister requests a third party inter independent review of the RCMP or its police services, that review must be paid must be paid for a hundred percent by the Government of the Northwest Territories. However, if no independent third party review is requested, then by default, all reviews are conducted by the RCMP itself. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister consider this arrangement fair, or will he commit to amending this section of the agreement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So article 19 also mentions several steps in determining the RCMPdirected reviews where contract partners, such as ourselves, have input into the work. So it would be a hundred percent funded review as sort of a last step if we don't get satisfaction through those other methods. So every fiscal year the contract management committee, made up of ADMs and policing from across the country, Public Safety Canada and some municipal representatives, may provide certain matters to be audited in the RCMP's operations, and there's a strategic advantage to this process as the reviews are nationally coordinated and we benefit from the influence of larger contract partners in the process.
The same process exists for directed reviews. The contract management committee is consulted and offer input into the planning process. Next, there is a process where the commanding officer and the GNWT can jointly agree on specific directed reviews to be conducted which would be covered in the agreement at a 70/30 cost share ratio. This is done as an ongoing part of the contract management. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The contract management committee within the Territorial Police Service Agreement consists of three representatives from the Government of the Northwest Territories, the federal Department of Safety, and the RCMP along with one associate member representing NWT municipalities. Can the Minister identify the individuals on this committee and how the selection process is done for who sits on it? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The contract management committee is a national level group that supports information sharing and collaboration among provinces and territories, Public Safety Canada, and the RCMP. The contract management committee, or CMC, is also the formal forum for Public Safety Canada to consult with contract holders for anything that is upcoming that will impact governance, cost, quality or capacity of the policing service, or an RCMP program. Typically, ADMs responsible for policing in each jurisdiction represent their organization on the committee. In our case, it is the ADM, solicitor general branch, as the position is responsible for the management of the Territorial Police Service Agreement. There are also some members of the CMC who represent the municipalities who are funding RCMP at a 90/10 cost share as opposed to our 70/30 to provided policing in their communities, and that's outside of the Northwest Territories. And that's why there is a reference to municipalities in the agreement.
There are also several working groups across the country that address matters related to the contract that report to CMC. Some of these groups focus on financial implications, capital assets, national programs, and all of them to support accountability and transparency between Public Safety Canada, the RCMP, and contract partners like ourselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
