Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today, for the last time, are for the Minister of Human Resources, Minister Dent. At the rate the Members are leaving the Chamber, I might get you all to myself for one hour. Anyway, duty to accommodate. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I raised a very important subject. Under the Human Rights Commission there is provision for the duty to accommodate. I want to know how does that right, how does that translate into any policy, procedure or actions on the part of this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to use my Member’s statement to draw attention to a potential gap in the guidelines for applying the duty to accommodate for employees of our public service. The human rights legislation is quite clear that the employer has the duty to accommodate when an employee has an obligation to care for a family member with a disability unless it can be proven that this accommodation causes undue hardship to the employer.

Managers in our public service should have reflective policies that allow them to make these accommodations within a clearly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister concur that public servants of the GNWT should not have to take issues such as this to the Human Rights Commission to get a satisfactory solution; that as a leader and a role model in employing people in the public service in the Northwest Territories that this government should be setting that high standard and that it should directly comply with the human rights legislation? Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, one last time my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I have outlined a new problem that has appeared in Hay River. It probably isn’t any problem in the sense that we do have muddy water in the spring almost every year as long as I can remember. However, the new problem is that we can no longer rely on the system we have in place to be adequate to meet the Canadian drinking water standards. This is going to require a solution. It is probably not going to be a cheap solution. We need to, first of all, explore what some of the options for a...

Thank you, Ms. Lee. We will circulate your motion.

All right, committee. Under the rules of the Legislative Assembly, Rule 54 states, "A motion to refer a bill, resolution or question to Committee of the Whole or to a standing or special committee shall take precedence over amendments to the bill, resolution or question." Ms. Lee’s motion is, therefore, in order. To the motion. Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Minister Bell. At this time I will ask the committee if there are any general comments.

Clause 15.