Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask the Minister to respond to my previous comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask the Minister about the $400,000 decrease for the Syncrolift project. This is something we discussed in our review of the capital budget estimates. I would like to know if the Minister could just explain how this $400,000 project appeared in the capital when it was supposed to be paid out of the revolving fund just for our clarification. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Your committee would like to consider Tabled Document 2-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018; Tabled Document 3-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019; and Committee Report 1-18, Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2015 Territorial General Elections, Supplementary Recommendations, and the White Paper on the Independence and Accountability of Election Administration in the Northwest Territories. Thank...

I can't see the Minister's shoes under his desk, but I assume they're dancing shoes, because he didn't quite answer the question. I asked him why he has eliminated the independence of the board and combined it with management, which undermines the credibility of the Power Corporation. Northerners are frustrated to see their power rates continue to rise, and have no trust in this organization. The Minister has further damaged that trust by this decision. So will the Minister at least commit to re-visiting these decisions and installing an independent board that can direct the corporation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the recent climate change audit reveals, we have a large task before us in addressing our climate change goals and objectives, and also transitioning to a clean energy economy. The Northwest Territories Power Corporation serves an important role there, and I'd like to ask the Minister responsible today if he can respond to a few of the decisions he's made around the governance of that corporation.

In 2005, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released a report called the Review of Governance Framework for Canada's Crown Corporations. In there, they define a Crown...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that this is something that the Chief Electoral Officer recommended. I think the committee has taken an important step in recommending that we do some work before making those kind of changes. In other jurisdictions they vary, but often the central election body or the provincial election body does send teams in to support municipal level elections, and that can be very helpful when you may have a situation where the chief administrative officer of a municipality is also the returning officer and, if there is a dispute over the results, they have to basically act...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, want to commend the work of the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures. This committee has met extensively throughout the life of this Assembly, and has had many meetings on many matters that have been brought before it, and they have helped clarify everything from our code of conduct, guidelines, to the Mid-Term Review, and ultimately this is the last large piece of work that they have undertaken, and it was a substantial piece of work.

I also want to mention the Chief Electoral Officer has brought forward a very substantial work on her own initiative, and it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members of the 18th Assembly made transparency and accountability a fundamental principle of our four-year term. Together, we developed the public accountability process in the form of a Mid-Term Review. This process was not perfect. It was designed to be fair, issue-based, and open to the public. The review was in place for close to a year. Although government Members were critical of this Mid-Term Review and in fact voted against establishing it, at no point did they refuse to participate in the process.

This motion today is the outcome of that Mid-Term...

The Member does wish it, and I will look forward to the Minister reporting back, or his department. Another concern I will share with the Minister today is that currently the emergency response team at the jail is not a dedicated unit. In other facilities, it is a dedicated unit. They receive two-week intensive training. They are equipped with a full range of security gear, including specialized non-lethal weaponry that allows them to control these situations. None of that is present at our facility. There is not a dedicated emergency response team. Will the Minister look into emergency...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today the Minister of Justice was answering some questions and mentioned that he was not sure how many training positions there are with the correctional service, but he was sure there were enough. I did some research between then and now. There are two positions; one at the facility, one at the headquarters. They are both staffed by the same person. I want to ask the Minister now if he thinks one person to coordinate, plan, and execute all the training for 350 probation and correction officers is sufficient. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.