Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that the policy of the Human Resources department of the GNWT has to go far enough so that it does accommodate the member of the family that that employee has an obligation to care for. It sounds like there is a lot of discretionary latitude in that policy that the Minister is referring to. That can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing. I would like to ask the Minister if he feels that supervisors and managers are adequately orientated to this particular policy and that they are equipped with the tools that they need to make a decision to accommodate an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there is a human resource management policy in the GNWT which speaks specifically to the duty to accommodate. Does that policy reflect what it says in the human rights duty to accommodate policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is my pleasure today to recognize the Pages that have come up this week to work for Hay River South. They are right here in the Chamber. They are Hailey Lyon and Trudy Hiebert. I would like to thank them for doing a great job in the service of the Assembly.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in response to a previous question, the Minister did say that he thought the duty to accommodate did not extend beyond the immediate employee of the government. By extension, this is a family obligation; this is a family member with a disability, not the employee themselves. If the existing policy does not include that provision by extension, will the Minister look at a means of revising our policy and legislation or manual that managers are guided by to ensure it does include this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to bring this up again to the Minister of Human Resources here on the last day of Assembly, because the answers to these questions are so important and so serious to a constituent of mine in Hay River who's going to be wanting to hear the answer. One of the grounds of discrimination covered by the NWT Human Rights Act is family. Family status includes the status of being related to someone who requires your care. An employer's duty to accommodate includes accommodating, including family obligations. Family obligations could include requesting altered...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The duty to accommodate, a guide to employers, actually extends beyond accommodating that employee who may have a condition or a disability. People cannot be discriminated against on the basis of family status and if the employee of the GNWT has an obligation to provide care to a family member that might preclude them, for example, from working a night shift in an institution or in a workplace, then by extension that duty to accommodate goes to that employee in their obligation to their family member. That is what I’d like to determine, if this government adheres to...

Clause 9.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me say this in one sentence: new legislation, new Minister, new government, new CEO. We need stability, continuity, I support the motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Ramsay.

Clause 7.