Jane Groenewegen

A while back, when the remand facility at the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre was closed, there were five positions identified for elimination but only through attrition. I’d like to know: are we still on about that, or has that been taken care of? Have enough people left to accommodate that commitment that was made at that time? I just want to make sure, with these retirements that are coming up or people who are voluntarily leaving or retiring, that those don’t somehow get categorized as those attrition positions that were kind of left over from when the remand operation shut down.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the motion, which is to recommend that the government reinstate the $109,000 for any proposed reductions to nursing services at the North Slave Correctional Centre and the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre, I would like to say that I believe these are important services, and they are there to ensure that the corrections officers are not having to extend their time dealing with health issues. I think that the funding for them should be reinstated.

Our motion is premised on information that we received from the Department of Justice. If that information has changed...

Why was the position vacant? How long has it been vacant, and why was it vacant?

Can the Minister please tell me: what is the anticipated savings from the elimination of the vacant position at the North Slave Correctional Centre?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had a couple of questions also on the nursing support services for the North Slave Correctional Centre but also for the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre. There is a proposal to reduce funding for these functions by the amount of $109,000. I have heard now that for North Slave it will be the elimination of a vacant position at the North Slave Correctional Centre. What is proposed to be eliminated in terms of service or people in the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the wish of the committee today is to proceed with the Main Estimates for the Department of Justice.

Mr. Chairman, I’d like to move a motion that we report progress, please.

Just one further clarification. So these two positions will be coming up sometime this summer, but how long are the people who are affected employees…?How long does that priority staff retention policy apply to them? At what point does somebody say, “The date has come and gone. There were no positions, and therefore there are no more options for that”? When an affected employee has been notified, how long does that apply for?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I asked questions about the nursing positions before, which I understand has been dealt with by a motion — and I don’t want to ask you about the nursing positions — it precipitated a response from the deputy minister about the maintenance officer position at South Mackenzie Correctional Centre. The deputy minister indicated that position was the one that was targeted as an affected position. I’m looking at some follow-up to the information that was provided, and not for information related to the rest of the motion.

The maintenance position was the one that is...

I have a motion I’d like to move. We don’t have that information. It would be helpful to have that information in our deliberations here to help us make decisions. Since we don’t have that information, I’m going to make a motion.

I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government take immediate action to reinstate funding in the amount of…. We’re going to have to amend the motion here. Can I just get some clarification? Let me read the motion, and then I’ll find out if that needs to be changed.

I move that this committee strongly recommends that the government take immediate...