Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On my right I have Sylvia Haener, who is the deputy minister of the Department of Justice. On my left I have Kim Schofield, who is the director of finance of the Department of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to being an inclusive workplace open to all Northerners. A diverse workplace improves our ability to serve the public.

Today I would like to provide Members with highlights from the recent Inclusive Public Service Survey, conducted by the NWT Bureau of Statistics on behalf of the Department of Human Resources. It was developed in consultation with the GNWT Advisory Committee on Employability. The survey was conducted in the first half of this year, and asked all GNWT employees to share their perspectives on a wide range of workplace diversity topics. The...

I do, thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled Additional Information for GNWT Response to Committee Report 1-17(3) to Review the NWT Information and Privacy Commissioner’s 2010-2011 Annual Report.

Thanks, Madam Chair. All equipment, all of the computer equipment and technology that the users, the staff in the GNWT use, has a lifecycle as determined by the CIO’s office and it is replaced on that lifecycle. That lifecycle is basically what evergreening is. When a piece of equipment hits the end of its lifecycle, it is replaced.

The Member shares exactly the same concerns I have with this same process. We still need to get a sense of space. There may not be as much and it may not be appropriate for all purposes. We certainly aren’t a retail outlet for art and we don’t want to be a retail outlet for art. We don’t want to challenge or compete with those outlets that are involved in selling art. It’s about displaying local artists. It shouldn’t be too complicated to figure out, but we will, absolutely, work with our colleagues.

Thanks, Madam Chair. There were some delays. There were some issues around design and whatnot and some budget issues as well. I believe for certain aspects of it, in particular the chimney systems, a contract has been awarded. The kitchen is out for tender right now, but with the chimney we were notified, I believe it was last week, about some issues that they’re having with the chimneys that I shared with Members. Those issues have been dealt with and they should be proceeding with the chimney and moving to the kitchen once the RFP is concluded. Just as a note, the work is scheduled to be...

We’re not convinced that there’s 1 percent. There might be more, there might be less. We need to really assess the space, the public space.

As far as the performing arts, I don’t recall that and I haven’t directed the department to look at the performing arts side of things. I apologize for that. I would say that it would fall under the same category of art.

Once we talk to the arts associations in the Northwest Territories, I think we’ll get some good input from them, but I’m not prepared to go to them until we have some sense of how much space is available.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m not sure about all of the specifics of that question, but we can certainly provide a breakdown of where we are now, the items that need to be dealt with sooner than later. Once they’re dealt with, obviously, bad aspects of the deferred maintenance come off the list. So we can do a bit of an analysis.

What might actually be useful here is if I offer the committee a briefing on deferred maintenance and that we can all get on the same page. I’m happy to come before committee, whether it’s P and P, Economic Development and Infrastructure, whichever committee would be...

Madam Chair, we have gone with a very efficient layout. The building is going to be energy efficient with an energy efficient envelope. The envelope design is going to exceed by at least 10 percent of the required energy consumption level of the National Energy Code for building as required by the Good Building Practice for Northern Facilities Guidelines. Energy-efficient fixtures and equipment will be incorporated. Daylight harvesting technologies will be incorporated. Energy-efficient fluorescent and/or LED lighting will be included. As I indicated before, we hope to save 785 tonnes of...