Education report tabled
Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services
NNSL (Apr 28/99) - Education Minister Michael Miltenberger has responded to the flurry of questions that followed the release of last week's budget and minister's forum final report on education.
The Thebacha MLA tabled a second document in the assembly Monday -- Towards Excellence: A Report on Education in the NWT.
"The Department of Education, Culture and Employment is increasing the amount of blue chip information available on its programs and services," Miltenberger said while introducing the report.
The report covers a broad range of topics and statistics from 1996/97, including questions on numbers raised by MLAs last week. Miltenberger said the department plans to update the information every two years and is currently working on the 1998/99 figures.
"Reliable information is critical to good decision making and to public accountability for dollars spent," he said. "Towards Excellence provides the department...with baseline information that we will use in our strategic and business planning."
Asked point blank by Mackenzie Delta MLA David Krutko during Question Period whether more money would be made available to curtail an expected teacher shortage next year, Miltenberger hinted there might be.
"The money in the budget for education is approximately $168 million with $2 million being proposed by way of motion when our department comes up to add to that," he said.
Internal competition halted
Sparking applause from legislators, Premier Jim Antoine has announced that cabinet has decided to discontinue the internal competition process.
Antoine explained Thursday that in March 1998, the government had approved a no layoff policy to support stability in the public service during a time of downsizing. He said the internal competition process was put in place last August to allow some mobility for GNWT employees.
But Antoine said that a review has determined that continuation of the internal competition process "will not provide any additional benefit" and was to be discontinued as of Monday.
"Returning to open competition will allow us to recruit the best people from within our own ranks and from the labour forces outside the public service," Antoine said.
Replying to the premier, Yellowknife North MLA Roy Erasmus praised the move, but he also took the opportunity to raise an issue he has promoted on several occasions -- the need for an accountable, independent body to oversee government hiring.
"The process may be fair to people that are applying, but it does not appear to be fair," he said. "Putting independent people into the hiring process will help to solve that."
Ootes calls for action
Yellowknife Centre MLA Jake Ootes has called for the federal government to take action on employee transfers to the territory.
"I see a lot of similarities, Mr. Speaker, between our government and the federal government," said Ootes on Thursday. "Both do studies, consultation and produce reports and produce only meagre meat and potatoes."
Ootes said he was frustrated with the little progress made on a motion he put before the house two years ago, proposing to transfer positions in the federal government that are dedicated to policy and development in the Northwest Territories to the North.
Ootes said though the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs responded by hiring a consultancy firm and confirming "there is solid rationale of a transfer of federal positions" and transferring 20 positions to the Yukon, nothing has been done for the NWT.
"These are hundreds of jobs that should be located in the North," he said. "I say to the federal government, stop spending those thousands of dollars on studies and just get on with it and give us some meat and potatoes."
