Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think Ms. Bisaro summed it up quite well. Again, there is a fiduciary obligation on behalf of all of our stakeholders to report their financial statements to public accounts and to this government, and as Ms. Bisaro mentioned, the Housing Corporation… Actually, there were four that did not meet the criteria, and I wanted to make sure that that was clear. We had Aurora College that required an extension. We also had NWT Business Development Investment Corporation that also needed an extension date, and we had Northwest Territories Hydro Corporation who also required an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this motion forward. First of all, I want to deal with the elephant in this room and that is why is a big city MLA concerned about a small community issue. This is important to me and it’s simple. This motion is an issue of equality, it’s an issue of accountability and it’s also an issue of class management. I will try to address these three ideologies in support of Mr. Yakeleya’s motion.

First of all, equality. Why are we allowing certain communities to be considered a tier 2 or second class to what is considered norm in...

Mr. Speaker, this is news to me. I have not uncovered those changes.

The issue of companies dealing with market saturation or market economy is all too real in many jurisdictions of our territory, yet the negotiated and sole-source contract policy makes no mention of such.

Can the Minister of Finance indicate by what policy this government judges when a market is oversaturated with competing Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses and still grants a negotiated or sole-source contract? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, like many residents, am concerned with this government’s antiquated negotiated and sole-source contracting policy and how the taxpayers are forced to be holding the bag of its mismanagement. The recently tabled response to my question on GNWT contracts over $5,000 does raise awareness of this concern. My questions today are for the Minister of Finance.

Can the Minister comment why taxpayers were forced to pick up the tab of $34 million in the GNWT contract change orders in 2012-2013? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think Member Moses summarized it quite eloquently. I just need a few points to add to this motion.

What we’re referring to in this motion is hopefully setting up more of a target base approach for loans receivable. If we look at the history of this government, we were collecting literally at one point in time I call it 70-cent dollars, and that number has dwindled from 2011 to 2013 to about 60-cent dollars on our doubtful loans. This is a bit problematic. Losing 10 cents on the dollar really, in essence, will be significant in the long run.

Good accounting principles...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a motion. I move that, in future, the public accounts include a detailed explanation of how the Government of the Northwest Territories has performed for that fiscal year in relation to the Fiscal Responsibility Policy.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do have a motion. I move that the Department of Finance undertake the necessary audits and investigations required to ensure that revenues from self-reporting taxes are fully maximized and that the department report back to the Standing Committee on Government Operations with respect to its findings by August 31, 2014.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think, first and foremost, I need to congratulate the department on providing a signed copy of these public accounts at least one month sooner than they did in 2012 and it was tabled in November 2013, which is, again, three months sooner than the process that we did, the first time we’ve done this in many, many years. I appreciate the government for doing that.

Although the government may have received what the Auditor General called a “clean opinion,” it’s important to note that variances in any one category greater than $24 million are not followed up in any of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have no problem explaining my term of saturation with the Minister in his office, but my fourth question is: Will this Minister commit to the House that the negotiated and sole-source contract policy will undergo a robust review by Cabinet, by committee and the public during the life of the 17th Assembly? Mr. Speaker, a simple yes or no will suffice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the negotiated and sole-source contract policies were designed years ago when there were all but a handful of Aboriginal companies and they wanted to build capacity in the Northwest Territories. Today we have well over 500 with the same mandate.

Can the Minister indicate to the House why the government has not tried to modernize this policy? Thank you.