Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an area whether it comes to the ferry service provided at river crossings, as well as winter roads. One of the things that the department is tasked to do is to operate as efficiently as possible. We find that setting the date is one of the better ways of doing that. There is always pressure to extend the season, if, for example, in the fall we have an unusually warm fall, there is a request from the trucking industry to keep those in operation for longer so that they can get the last loads up, as well with the winter road season. If we have a cooler spring...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has come forward with that. We know that it is for putting a plan together. I am not aware of the actual detail of where in the community this site is being looked at. Maybe the Minister has that background information. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe I’ll have the Minister of Health and Social Services make that response in this area. As I explained earlier, the increased actual usage of what services are provided out of territory and some of those increases in the claims that were processed. For further detail, Mr. Miltenberger can give that detail. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no committee in place. What we did is once we came up with a plan and decided to put it in action, we started off with the corporate human resource service portion we had within Executive, moved it over to FMBS, and from there involved all of the staff who were involved with the delivery of corporate human resource services and started expanding out from there, putting a plan together and involving them. We met with just about every individual that is involved with human resource services and got some input into how things would flow, as well as...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This has come around as a result of extending the highway season for two more weeks, plus the activity on the winter road up the Mackenzie Valley has added a lot of extra maintenance that needs to be done on that area. The increased traffic as well as the extending of the season has caused the department to come in for this request. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The process, as it works, allows for all UNW and excluded employees to appeal, so there could be further appeals. Again, the initial job evaluation methodology that was used when the GNWT went to the Hay job evaluation process that we entered into, came up with a rating. Pay was adjusted on that basis and as a result of that there was a grievance filed on behalf of 42 nurses that triggered this going into action and the re-evaluation of the positions. Again, it is open to employees that feel that they are not getting a fair shake, they can grieve it and if...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, this is for land development in the area of a staging site for trucks to either switch off their loads or change loads and be able to have their vehicles there away from the centre part of the community. It’s broken down. Again, this is to put a plan together for the community and about $37,000 of that is for a consultant, then $13,000 to implement the plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not willing to stop the process where we are now. We have started on this course. We’ve reviewed the information that has been provided. We have looked at the plans and we are proceeding down that road. We have, as I stated, 140 affected employees. Of that, 50 of them are aboriginal people who have had input into the work that is going on. Through this change, there are going to be some people who are not happy with the results of the changes and how things are proceeding. But at this point, I have no plans of stopping the process to get a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when we had the Department of Pubic Works and Services issuing contracts on behalf of all departments within a community, there used to be that opportunity. But as things went to user-pay/user-say, boards would enter into their own contracts. Some boards may enter into contracts to supply fuel, for example, on an annual basis and maybe they will cut a deal, but we are quite fragmented in that area now as we have gone away from the previous contracts that used to be issued and we try to secure the service in bulk. It’s something as we go forward we are...

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The process we are involved in with our human resource system allows for individuals to appeal the classification that they are in and there are a few outstanding yet that may impact us. It is open for members of our workforce to appeal their classification and, depending on the outcome of those appeals, it could have some impact. Thank you.