Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I include my preamble as before? It’s so exciting.

What is the Minister responsible for Seniors using as his guiding mandate that builds and bridges the relationship between his responsibilities as Minister responsible for Seniors and certainly the relationship and their needs by seniors in the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to use today’s opportunity to talk about the Financial Administration Manual. I’m going to frame it around the administration and the conduct built around that.

The public is concerned, certainly as I am, about the accountability of this manual and the transparency that’s brought with it. So I’m not going to speak to any specific example whether we’ve had problems in the past or even in the recent situation.

I’d like to focus my concerns around the administration and our guiding book, our bible, as such when it comes to finances and economics of the NWT. What...

I didn’t ask the question he answered, but I was grateful for the time he did spend providing information to the House again. My issue is about coordination. Is it something he can’t do, or doesn’t want to do?

Well, the Minister keeps echoing about how different places are, but when we talk about filing of paperwork, for example, we’ve have incidents where people don’t file on time, so why are departments so difficult they can’t file their paperwork in a compliance form? Maybe he could explain in a risk matrix complex, sort of explain all the deviations that apply to these things and why they are so different and maybe we can get an education here today. Because, ultimately, what we’re asking for is compliance and consistency. Do they all have different types of risks? Absolutely. That’s as plain as...

Who is there to guide the performance and consistency of the policy? It sounds as if I keep getting the same answer that it’s up to the departments, up to the deputy ministers and in some ways up to the Minister, but all I hear is inconsistencies of application. What I’m asking for, and other Members are asking for, is consistent application and someone to take a leadership role.

So back to the issue at hand is, who is ensuring there is consistent policy being complied with, because it’s a carrot or stick approach. It’s great that you can write all these guidelines and come up with some...

So there’s no way of guaranteeing consistent application of policy. We’re all allowing the departments to run in on their own and to apply the policy as they feel satisfied.

Is this not part of the performance management process of the deputy ministers, because that’s what I’m hearing now being repeated we’re going to make it part of? To date has it not been part of it?

Thank you, Madam Chair. With pleasure, I would like to weigh into this discussion a little bit. The opportunity before us here really comes down to something simple, which is one of the challenges about coordination. Through our corporate focus here, who is going to take charge of some of these WSCC fines and coordination and, certainly, safety? Wouldn’t this now be the time for the department to say we’ll approach the Premier and Cabinet to find a coordinating role and this could be the opportunity? Clearly, we’re hearing several Members, I was glad to hear Mr. Bromley speak up to that issue...

Madam Chair, the Minister shouldn’t think I am not hearing him. I do. But what continues to be the pillar of the issue for me is the fact that there is no coordinating role. How do you know we are all on the same song sheet just because they provide advice and guidance, but he keeps farming out responsibility to individual departments? When we consider complying on all these types of things, again it is the consistency of applying. Why is it so complicated to say that all information that would be going towards WSCC needs to have a check box that goes through Human Resources that can...

Is this something you don’t want to do or can’t do?