Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 19, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2013, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Protection Against Family Violence Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I encourage all staff to do when they know they’re coming up to the end of their employment is obviously to have a discussion with the benefits officer. If they have a discussion with their benefits officer prior to their last day, they can usually streamline the process a little bit so that people know how urgent it is; this person isn’t going to be having a job, they’re going to be going on EI. I would encourage all employees of the GNWT, when they know that they’re coming up to their end date, to talk to their benefits officer so that we can get these dealt...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A record of employment is required after many situations. If an employee has interrupted earnings of over seven days, they are required to be provided with a record of employment. When an employee’s salary falls below 60 percent of their weekly earnings, they are supposed to be provided with a record of employment. When an employee declares bankruptcy, a record of employment is required, and there are a lot of other reasons why a record of employment is required.

The requirement is that a record of employment is provided within five calendar days of the last day of the...

Thank you. Certainly an intriguing idea and if it’s something committee wants us to look at I’m certainly willing to.

Having said that, the Regional Recruitment Program that we’re talking about here is actually a program designed to help people from the communities and the regions obtain employment with the GNWT and it will be a valuable tool as we devolve positions throughout the Northwest Territories because it will help those individuals who feel or may not qualify for jobs. They’ve developed the on-the-job training and skills they need to get jobs, but with respect to Mrs. Groenewegen’s...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that we’re looking at a location for that and I think right now I believe we’re looking at Fort Smith and I think we’ve already got somebody who has been identified as a reasonable and suitable candidate. But I will confirm, for the Member, that information. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 17, Apology Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that’s a very difficult question to answer because every situation is going to be different. Obviously, we want to work with our employees and find ways to bring them back into the workforce, rather than having to go to that final step of termination. So we tend to work with our employees, try to accommodate them where appropriate, reasonable and feasible. If all things fail and the person has to be terminated or let go based on their condition, we work with the employee to try and figure out the best way. But at the end of it, an ROE is still five days, so we still have to find a...

Mr. Speaker, at this time we hope that through the review of this process, we can identify and answer some of those exact questions. Right now we feel that we have enough positions established, but we also do have turnover and some vacancies within our own shop and it’s difficult to find people who are capable of doing this work.

One of the real challenges is just the sheer quantity of these ROEs that are required. Today there are about 382 that are required. Between April 1, 2012, and August 30, 2013, just by way of example, we processed 3,653 records of employment. If you break that down to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Today with me on my right is Kelly McLaughlin, the director of legislation with the Department of Justice.