Julie Green

Right around the time we were elected, so in other words when the Minister was not yet the Minister, the treatment centre sold for almost double the price of the appraisal, which I take to be $880,000. Does the Minister have any idea how the building suddenly gained all that value?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I have some questions for the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation about the sale of the treatment centre on the Detah Road. My first question is: does the sale include both the land and the building? Mahsi.

The information I'm drawing on is information that the Minister provided. We're talking about the amount of money that's paid to income assistance recipients. In every example that the Minister provided, the amount of money paid for clothing and for food has gone down.

While the bottom line for most people is better, it's not as good as it could be because the overall effect of the Canada Child Tax Benefit has been diminished. So my question again is: how can the Minister justify not enabling families to collect the whole amount that they are eligible for?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I wonder if the Minister could tell me what the rationale is for reducing clothing and food benefits to income assistance recipients since the introduction of the Canada Child Tax Benefit? Masi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'll go to the bottom line, and this is what it is: the GNWT is helping to perpetuate the poverty trap. They are not allowing families to experience the full benefit of the new federal anti-poverty initiative. Shame, Mr. Speaker, shame for trying to save money on the backs of the most vulnerable residents of this territory. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Finance Minister for that. One of the points in my statement was that some people seem to benefit disproportionately from solesource contracting. I mentioned deputy ministers and consultants who had multiple contracts among them for quite a steep value. I wonder if the Minister would consider, as part of his review, looking at whether there need to be some limits on the number of contracts awarded to a single individual or, alternatively, a total value of contracts awarded to a single individual? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Could you reverse the 100… no? okay.

Laughter

I welcome the Finance Minister following through with that and putting accountability into action within the next few days. I made reference in my statement to the last evaluation of contracting practices released in 2009 by the Auditor General of Canada, who, of course, is our Auditor General, as well. It found flaws in the awarding of one in five solesource contracts. With new contracting limits and dramatic upstream in the solesource contract value, the potential for error and loss is there. Will the Minister commit to carrying out an evaluation of solesource contract awarding practice and...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in February, the Finance Minister announced changes in the limits for granting solesource contracts. To recap, solesource contract limits were increased from $5,000 to $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 for different categories of purchases. That means GNWT purchasers can spend up to these amounts without having to go to tender or a negotiated contract.

I spoke on these changes in the June session, and the Minister may remember I questioned him on what controls are in place to ensure there is diligent oversight of the awarding of these solesource contracts. I didn't...

I wonder if the Minister could give me even some preliminary thoughts about what this review might look like, who would do it, when it would be done and so on and so forth? Thank you.