"If the department hand-picked the contractor, they perhaps also hand-picked the results."
Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 21/01) - Health Minister Jane Groenewegen came under fire for spending $300,000 for a southern consultant to review her department's operations.
The matter, first raised Friday during question period by Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell, returned to the chamber Monday.
 Jane Groenewegen |
The minister told legislators the review was necessary to address several issues "that are challenging our system."
She specifically mentioned the ability of some boards to handle functions like pay and benefits, inability of boards to provide the department with accurate financial information, and the question of whether the current board structure "is the most effective and efficient approach."
Groenewegen defended offering the contract to Cuff.
"I can tell you that we felt that the Cuff and Associates team possessed the right mix of professional and experience credentials," she said.
She added that there was no firm in the NWT with experience in that area.
Wholesale shakeup
The minister said that the consulting firm came to her ministry's attention after they "consulted with Capital Health Authority."
Recent Auditor General reports have criticized the NWT for sending contracts southward without first tendering them.
Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger noted Monday that recent statements by Groenewegen seem to be setting the stage for a wholesale shakeup of the NWT's health boards. "Five of the six points (in Groenewegen's Friday member's statements) targeted the boards."
Frame Lake MLA Charles Dent echoed Miltenberger's concern. "(It seems) that she's setting the stage for saying the boards are inefficient," Dent said.
Groenewegen pointed out that "75 per cent of the Health and Social Services budged is distributed through the boards," making their relationship to her department a necessary part of any review.
In a report of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, chaired by Miltenberger, the committee expressed "concern that if the department hand-picked the contractor, they perhaps also hand-picked the results of the review." It said the department, "remains in a perpetual planning phase, unable to move forward."
The Cuff report is scheduled to be ready in June.
