Glen Abernethy

Have you explored new technologies that are available that might assist the staff increase their efficiencies and increase productivity?

Yesterday in some of your comments you mentioned the Hackett Report. My timing might be a little wrong on this — it might have been the previous fiscal year, not last fiscal year — but I believe that report cost about $400,000-plus, and I believe that you funded that from within. I’m curious. If you were in fact able to find that money from within, it may suggest that there might be some room or some additional saving possibilities within the department itself. I was wondering if you could talk a bit about where those dollars came from and whether or not that provides room for some additional...

Thank you. My question is similar to the one that Mrs. Groenewegen just asked. Specifically, I am interested, actually, to hear some examples of the types of things you’d try to do to streamline the organization to find some efficiencies. There are large organizations out there with far more staff than the GNWT, and they run their organizations in such a way that staff get paid on time, labour relations are dealt with in a timely manner, and training and development is seen, recognized and delivered. Succession planning’s a reality.

I am not saying those things aren’t a reality with the GNWT...

Thank you.

Department of Human Resources

The members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations met with the Minister of Human Resources on April 8, 2008, to review the Draft Main Estimates for 2008–2009.

Committee members made note that the Department of Human Resources is proposing spending $32.264 million in operation expenses in fiscal year 2008–2009. Overall, the committee felt that the proposed reductions focused too much on position cuts and not enough on improving business practices and streamlining efficiencies.

Regional Human Resource Services

The committee made it clear that...

Once again to the Minister Responsible for the Housing Corp. Clearly, in this case there were no eligible candidates. I’d be curious, first, why they were actually built in that community.

Secondly, now that we know there are no candidates and the houses have sat vacant for two years, I’m wondering what the Housing Corp. is planning to do and whether they’re planning to work with, say, Education, Culture and Employment to find alternative uses for those houses. Every day that we leave those houses vacant and we have to pay for heat, it costs the government. So what are the plans, and how does...

I’d like to recognize Blake Lyons, the president of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society, an ex-city councillor and a constituent.

Not the TSC upgrades; I apologize. The HR system upgrade. Are there ongoing costs related to that upgrade, and is that included as part of the $716,000?

Mr. Chair, this question is going to sound an awfully lot like the last question. In the '07–08 Mains you had a total budget of $716,000 under Contract Services and $458,000 under Other. Under Contract Services your Revised Mains are $116,000 lower, yet this year you've come back to the full amount of $716,000. Under Other you're at $458,000. You dip down to $207,000 by way of the Revised Mains, and now you're back up to $368,000. Granted, we don't have previous years, so we don't see much of a trend here, but why did these numbers dip in the Revised Mains and why are we putting them back up...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You may have answered it, but I just may not have understood or heard it properly. In the 2006–2007 actuals under Fees and Payments you had $545,000. In the Main Estimates for ’07–08 you had $302,000, but your Revised Mains were quite a bit lower than that. They were $117,000. This year you’re coming back with exactly the same amount as the previous year’s Mains under Fees and Payments. Can you tell me the history there? Because I see that it gets high, then goes down, then drops to the Revised Mains, and now you’re putting it back up to where it was next year. Was there...

I just want to follow up on that question, Mr. Chair. Seven total were proposed; five were accepted? Does that mean two of them were from the regions and they weren’t accepted, or does that mean that seven additional ones were proposed and not accepted?