Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess what I’m speaking about is fairness and impartial decision making and analysis of some of these situations that have occurred.

To the issue of voluntary early retirement: I understand what the Minister is saying. They cannot be seen to be coercing people who have had many years of service into departing early. I understand that would be a human rights issue.

However, for those — I’m glad this is on the public record today — who would like to leave early, will the government approve that, even in the instance where it may cost some money? Because I think giving...

So the Minister is saying the departments received their instructions to go and look for ways to reduce their spending, including positions being cut, and that he is confident those reductions came back in a well thought-out manner, and they did not target employees for any other reason than just the review of the program or the service that was being delivered.

In the instance, though, Mr. Speaker — I’m trying to represent my constituents — where a constituent comes and tells me they have substantial evidence that, in fact, that was the case, what recourse does that constituent have? I don’t...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I’ve asked before and have not got an answer, what recourse does the affected employee have? In fact, the government could be cited for wrongful dismissal. How many employees without the benefit of the protection and the advocacy of their union in this instance would have the resources to seek a legal opinion and take the GNWT on? What kind of unbearable work environment would that create for them going forward?

These are real cases. They are questions I don’t have answers for. I’ve tried to pursue some answers from the Minister of Human Resources, but I have not had...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At headquarters are 120 indeterminate full-time positions. I’d like to ask the Minister if the core business of the Department of Human Resources could be managed with less than 120 people in headquarters. What process was undertaken by his department to determine whether more positions at headquarters could be reduced, or were they just responding to targets that were given to them externally?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is the wish of the committee today to begin with the Department of Human Resources for the Main Estimates for 2008–2009.

Just so I understand: if an employee was coming up for retirement and wanted to take the two-day pre-retirement course and there was a fee of $400, the territorial government might or might not pay for that, depending on the approval of the manager of that employee. Is that correct?

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the fact that I get calls from constituents on a fairly consistent basis talking about their frustration with getting information on retirement options and support for planning their retirement and then acquiring the pension benefits that are due to them. There are certainly examples of private- and public-sector industry standards in this area. I want to make sure that our public service is entitled to, and is receiving, that same level of service that anyone else would expect.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources...

Today I want to talk about the support, or lack thereof, for members of our public service by our Department of Human Resources. In recent months I’ve continued to hear from my constituents about their frustration in securing the most basic information, such as records of employment, information needed to initiate retirement benefits, and the list goes on. This is peculiar to me given the millions of dollars that we’ve invested in the best and most current communications in HR management software. It’s also peculiar given the 125 positions at headquarters in the Department of Human Resources.

W...

Mr. Chairman, certainly in fairness to the people who work there…. Looking at the vacant positions, I agree with this, but I don’t think that’s going far enough. I think, again, it comes back to this issue of program review and looking at the effectiveness and efficiency of the methods by which we deliver those programs. One hundred and twenty people in headquarters is a lot of positions. I guess I’m just concerned about doing things the same old way and kind of status quo, and when a reduction target comes up, it’s not looked at in that in-depth way that a program review or maybe an outside...

It’s not really my place. It’s the prerogative of the Chair whether to call for a break or not. But general comments on the Department of Human Resources’ Main Estimates would be the first order of business.