New standing committee structure for the NWT Legislative Assembly.

• Author: Robert Slaven

The new committee structure adopted by the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories is designed to help MLAs better deal with the difficult challenges they face by providing more involvement in the governing process. The NWT Legislature is the only one in Canada where there are no political parties. Under the new system, the Standing Committees on Finance, Legislation, Public Accounts, and Agencies, Boards and Commissions were eliminated and in their place, four new Standing Committees were created. This article looks at the new system.

In 1994, the Government of the NWT adopted the concept of grouping government departments into envelopes. Departments with similar mandates were put together to improve government-wide planning and budgeting. Three envelopes were created:

* Social Programs includes the departments of Health and Social Services; Education, Culture and Employment; Justice; and the NWT Housing Corporation;

* Resource Management and Development includes the departments of Economic Development and Tourism; Renewable Resources; Transportation; Safety and Public Services; and Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources;

* Infrastructure includes the departments of Finance; Public Works and Services; Municipal and Community Affairs; Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs; Executive; Personnel Secretariat; and the Financial Management Board Secretariat.

The new Standing Committee structure mirrors those envelopes. The Standing Committee on Social Programs, the Standing Committee on Resource Management and Development, and the Standing Committee on Infrastructure each have the responsibility to review budgets, proposed legislation, bills, boards and agencies, public accounts, and division (1) issues specifically related to the departments within their respective envelopes. This way issues relating to a department are not split up among different committees (as was the case with the old committee structure). Each of these committees has five members

The chairmen and deputy chairmen of each of those three envelope Standing Committees sit on the Standing Committee on Government Operations. This Standing Committee totals seven members, the seventh being chairman Roy Erasmus, who was chosen to this post by the 15 ordinary MLAs.

The Government Operations Committee will review issues with government-wide implications, including overviews of the Government's budget and financial situation. It will also consider budgets, financial...