Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. And I hope we get the Alberta government's permission to release information that our citizens should get very soon. I'm worried, though, Mr. Speaker, that there may be some important events or milestones that are going to pass with the development of these discharge regulations during the upcoming territorial election.

Can the Minister commit to keeping the public informed of any significant events on tar sands spills and discharge regulation development during the upcoming election, and how would he intend to do that? Mahsi...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following document: A May 23, 2023 letter from the Union of Northern Workers, regarding Hay River disaster emergency funds, addressed to the Premier and Minister of Finance. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I do have a couple of questions for the Minister of Finance to follow up on my colleague's questions, the Member for Kam Lake yesterday on the issue of emergency paid leave as the Minister announced in the House yesterday.

I just want to make sure that that position has been communicated to staff within GNWT who are in a supervisory position so that they can work with the employees to make sure that they know that they could access  those that need it could access emergency paid leave if they had to leave Hay River or K'atlodeeche. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. You know, looking across the number of other Canadian provincial and territorial jurisdictions, it looks like there's a patchwork of disaster and emergency relief supports that are available. So as part of the Employment Standards Act review, can the Minister commit to carrying out a jurisdictional scan, including lessons learned and sharing that publicly? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

The Evacuee Income Disruption Program that was announced yesterday meets some of the issues raised by the Union of Northern Workers in its letter regarding the creation of an evacuation relief fund. And, Mr. Speaker, I'll be tabling that letter later today. But I would like to know, can the Minister say how the government will provide wage loss relief beyond the $750 announced today possibly through permanent changes to the Employment Standards Act? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. For the second year running, Hay River residents have been driven from their homes and jobs by mandatory natural disaster evacuation orders. A recent letter from the Union of Northern Workers sent to all Members details these hardships and points out that many workers can't work remotely or don't have access to emergency leave. Workers are burning up their vacation leave to keep receiving a paycheque and likely don't have any sick leave credits coming out of COVID. Once evacuated, people face extraordinary costs of buying meals, gas, and travel expenses, and even...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I move that the chair rise and report progress. Mahsi.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. And I did have a look at the language in the collective agreement. The collective agreement allows for both paid or unpaid leave, but I think I heard clearly in the House yesterday that we're, as a government, going to allow members of the public service that were evacuated to use paid emergency leave. So can I just confirm that with the Minister and ensure that that's the message that's going to go out to the supervisory staff as well as to all GNWT employees. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm hoping that maybe the jurisdictional scan can be completed to enable a better discussion during the public engagement, but I'll leave that with the Minister.

As I said yesterday, the climate emergency is going to increase disasters and evacuations in the NWT. How is the Minister working with his Cabinet colleagues to ensure a comprehensive climate emergency action plan? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that and, yes, so I think he's confirmed that unpaid emergency leave is within the scope of the Employment Standards Act. But is the issue of paid emergency leave within the scope of the current public engagement on the Employment Standards Act and how does the Minister propose to ensure amendments deal with future evacuations and similar emergencies? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.