Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I guess my next question is as part of the review of the Employment Standards Act, is that information the department could try and find out; could we engage with some of the small businesses who are not offering paid sick days and see kind of where we are at in order to close this gap? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I do believe that there's a much larger conversation to happen; if we're going do this, you know, how many paid sick days. Are they funded like vacation pay? Is there some GNWT contribution? There's a lot of different ways this can look. But when we do a comparison of currently unpaid sick days in the Northwest Territories, it's clear our employment standards is below average of what other jurisdictions. Is this something the Minister is also willing to look at, is increasing the guaranteed number of unpaid leave days? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In writing this statement, apparently I missed the memo that it was Christmas day. But what I would like to see for Christmas, Mr. Speaker, is some paid sick days for the working poor, Mr. Speaker. People shouldn't have to pick between staying home while they are sick or being able to afford rent and groceries. In fact, we know presenteeism is one of the reasons COVID is spread in workplaces throughout this pandemic. The feds have recently introduced changes to the Canada Labor Code that guarantees 10 days of paid sick leave to all workers in federally regulated areas...

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the comptroller general, in consultation with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and the Standing Committee on Government Operations, study potential changes to the public accounts to make them more user friendly and accessible while ensuring a high degree of transparency and accountability from the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the comptroller general add to the financial statement discussion and analysis section of the public accounts several reporting items that are present in public accounts of other jurisdictions; specifically,

Population data;

Unemployment rates;

Key nonfinancial results of major sectors;

Variances between budget and actuals and between current and prior year actuals by revenue source;

Variances between budget and actuals between current and prior year actuals by expense program and object;

Discussion details on each liability line item; and,

Clas...

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Finance undertake a review of their fiscal responsibility policy to ensure that the policy meets its objective for long-term fiscal sustainability.

And further, that the department provide the committee with an opportunity to comment on any proposed provisions to this policy. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the comptroller general enhance reporting in the public accounts of contingent liabilities arising from claims and litigation; and, further specifically,

A. Include a breakdown of claim amounts by category; and,

B. Identify individual claims above a certain threshold.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends the Department of Finance classify the project to refurbish Old Stanton as a public private partnership and report on it accordingly. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The consultant pointed out that we are doing some things in this area, but we actually have a lot of room to expand into making sure that, as MLA Martselos noted, that Indigenous-owned corporations and their governments, you know, take equity stakes in mines. I think it's pretty clear that some of our dev corps are doing much better than others and have really built, you know, wealth and experience off of mining. But there's a lot to learn. I think a great jurisdiction to turn to is Alaska.

If you go to Alaska, nine out of the ten largest owned corporations are...

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.