Lawsuits against the NWT with uncertain outcomes have increased exponentially in combined amount over the past 10 years, according to a recent Legislative Assembly report.

At the Dec. 2 sitting of the Legislative Assembly, members of the the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented a review of the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 2018-19 and 2019-20 public accounts. Included in the report was a table showing the total amounts claimed against the territory in lawsuits for which the outcome was uncertain for every fiscal year since 2010.

Between 2010 and 2016, the amounts per fiscal year ranged from $1 million in 2013-14 to $8 million in 2015-16. Then, in 2016-17, that number soared to $67 million, rising to $107 million in 2020-21.

SA国际影视传媒淭he committee is concerned about the significant, rapid growth in claims with indeterminable outcomes (and) the potential for liabilities to arise from these claims,SA国际影视传媒� the report reads.

The committee thus recommended that the comptroller general begin releasing breakdowns of claims by category and amount, and identify all claims above a certain amount.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 a bit of a black box about why this is here,SA国际影视传媒� says Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson, who sits on the committee. SA国际影视传媒淓ven when the GNWT settles its litigation, itSA国际影视传媒檚 often a black box: Quite often we settle and we put in some sort of non-disclosure agreement that neither party should talk about it. And unless some MLA is really on the ball, we donSA国际影视传媒檛 catch that there was an extra, you know, a few million dollars in a budget for settlement of something.SA国际影视传媒�

Johnson says certain major lawsuits, including one related to a breach of medical records and another related to construction contracts, could have contributed to this increase.

Regardless of the reason for the increase, he says this lack of understanding speaks to a lack of transparency in the way the GNWT manages its accounts.

If a case against the territory is settled in court, the decision is made public. However, SA国际影视传媒渢he vast majority of time someone sues the GNWT, we settle, as the vast majority of all cases are settled,SA国际影视传媒� says Johnson. SA国际影视传媒淎nd then we donSA国际影视传媒檛 really know what that money was for. We donSA国际影视传媒檛 know whether we fixed the problem with it. And here, we know that potentially we have $107 million in our budget being paid out in litigation, but we have no idea to whom or why.SA国际影视传媒�

The report concluded with a recommendation that the GNWT respond to its contents within 120 days.