Bob Bromley

Thank you for that, Minister. If we have questions with the information that’s been provided by the department, is this confidential information or are we allowed to ask questions to clarify what the situation is?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In my simplistic view of things, of course, I see quite a difference between the lead role in informing and the lead role in negotiations. The Premier said we are taking over the lead role from the federal government. I also asked how the federal government’s role has changed. It could be simply the mirror image of what I’ve heard, but that doesn’t seem to go very far to actually explain how the fiduciary role of the federal government has changed in relation to these questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Minister of Finance does indeed present a rosy picture in his budget address, but unfortunately, it does not reflect the realities we are dealing with in this House. I would like to review some of his budget address comments here.

He noted that we are taking on considerable new responsibilities in about six weeks now, a little less, but I have strong concerns that we are not prepared to take these on in the manner intended and needed, and I will be speaking to this over the course of this session to make clear some of the shortcomings and liabilities that we and...

I’d be happy to wait, Mr. Chair. I didn’t hear the Premier say which section, but I’d be happy to wait for the appropriate one. Of course, we haven’t passed the whole department, so I’d also be happy to wait until we go to the final.

In reflection, I have to be quite disappointed that the Premier is not willing to welcome any input from our citizens on the issues that our people face. That’s shocking to me. It depends on what the question is on whether he is interested or not, so that’s a bit shocking, but let’s go with it.

With so many informed and caring citizens in our employment, and I assure the Premier, and although he sounds doubtful that we do have a significant number, there is some concern that GNWT may be tempted to silence public debate by preventing GNWT employees from expressing their opinions, even when the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks for the Minister’s clarification there. Again, I don’t know, but it just seems like it would be a good thing to have that built in somewhere in here, and maybe it is at some point, but I think that sort of clarity would be good. Although we hear about it in other forums, it might be good even in a narrative sense at the beginning of the department in the budget document here just to have that clarity. Just a suggestion there.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Premier today. I’d like to start by noting that a democracy works best when all citizens are able to speak their minds.

Would the Premier not agree that we should welcome respectful input from everyone if we want to get the best result?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That certainly explains it. I recall now. Thanks for that reminder. I see we’re nearing the end here. Was there a plan to move some of the department’s staff and programs to the Department of Finance this year or am I thinking of another department? My memory is stretching. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I’m sure I’ll find out soon when that will be happening.

In the process of reorganizing divisions or departments or sections or whatever, positions sometimes get deleted within the government, and I’m concerned about a situation where an employee in a position might be assured one day that they’re secure and then with an about-face by the government their position is designated as affected shortly thereafter. Are there standards that must be met here, and what recourse does an employee have when their employer goes back on their word such as in such a situation?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are all the questions I had. I appreciate that information. I guess I would note some of these things are meant to be funded I think out of the vacant positions. Obviously, we have over 600 vacant positions to be staffed and inactive that are funded on any one day. That’s a lot of moola. We know that those dollars are being used for many of these things, so if they are funded specifically on top of that, as well, I think there needs to be some real clarity in reporting and evaluation on those fronts. I will leave it at that comment. Thank you.