Board of Management not much different than predecessor
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jan 17/01) - A board that came under the spotlight during a 1998 conflict-of-interest inquiry that led to the resignation of former Premier Don Morin has made few changes to its secretive ways.
The Board of Management, previously known as the Management and Services Board, is responsible for members' benefits and expenses and the administration of the Legislative Assembly.
Though members of the public may attend board meetings, they are not entitled to know what the board is talking about.
Legislative Assembly Speaker and board chair Tony Whitford said background material before members during the public portion of the meeting is not public information.
"I'm not able to give it to you," said Whitford when asked to provide the background material for the public portions of a meeting held last Friday. "What's in the members' binders is for the members only."
At Friday's meeting that private information included:
- the board's budget to Nov. 30, 2000
- the dollar amount of lease payments on the legislative assembly building and a request from the building society to increase those payments
- a regulation that would increase MLAs' pay and allowances in accordance with increases in the collective agreement negotiated with unionized government workers
- a review of current rules regarding members allowances and services
- prototypes of new business cards
The policy that guides it makes all board documents confidential by default. Only those explicitly released by the board are not confidential and any member releasing documents, no matter how innocuous, without board approval is subject to disciplinary action.
Whitford said he believed past board decisions had established a precedent to keep background information private.
"If it was up to me I'd give it to you," Whitford said.
The closed portion of Friday's meeting included discussion of the MLA's pension plan, a request by Bouwa Whee Catering Ltd. to renegotiate its catering contract and a plan to make counselling services available to members.
Committee member and Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell said he did not know why the items were discussed in camera.
"We rely on staff to recommend what should be discussed in camera ... we generally go with (staff recommendations)," Bell said. He added that members often do not know of the legal implications of agenda items until minutes before walking into a meeting.
Also sitting on the board are Hay River MLA Jane Groenewegen, Inuvik MLA Floyd Roland and Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger.
Calls to Miltenberger and Groenewegen were not returned by deadline.
