Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move, that consideration of Tabled Document 79-17(4), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be now concluded and that Tabled Document 79-17(4) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill.

I can accept that explanation, but I guess I’m still wondering. If I was doing procurement within a department previously, now I’m not doing procurement any more. We’ve now set up a procurement officer and a centralized desk, so why would there not be savings on me as an employee, because I’m not doing procurement anymore?

Can we not see savings in each department that equals the cost of providing this service in a centralized place? I’m having trouble trying to understand how we have employees who are not doing as much as they were doing before, but it is still going to cost us money to bring...

Thanks to the Minister for the explanation. I have to ask the question, and I think I probably know the answer, but we are spending this money, we are going to probably be providing better services in terms of our financial services. Are there any savings from bringing things in together and doing things in a consolidated way? Are we saving money?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee would like to deliberate Tabled Document 79-17(4), Bill 11, Bill 20 and, time permitting, Committee Report 3-17(4).

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, June 3, 2013, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that this Legislative Assembly supports the efforts of the federal, provincial and territorial Justice Ministers to better protect children by combatting cyberbullying, including changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that would make it a specific criminal offence to share intimate images without consent;

And further, that the Speaker transmit this motion to the Prime Minister, federal Opposition leaders, and federal...

I totally agree with the principle for equalizing rates for our employees across all of our communities.

The Minister mentions that the union has not asked to evaluate or do any kind of revisiting of this particular methodology. I’d like to know from the Minister when the last time was that this methodology was reviewed. When was the last time it was looked at across the territory and was there an evaluation to determine if the fact that Yellowknife is the base rate is actually appropriate still? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of the Department of Human Resources. I’d like to ask him some questions with regard to northern allowance that’s paid to our employees.

As a matter of course, the northern allowance is determined under the Collective Agreement between the government and the Union of Northern Workers, but the northern allowance is based on a base rate at Yellowknife rates and I do have some concerns with that. I don’t know that Yellowknife necessarily is the cheapest location in the territory. It is in some areas, not in others. I realize...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion. My comments are similar to those of my colleagues.

I haven’t been directly involved in the program. I don’t have many constituents who are directly involved in the program, but I am well aware of the deficiencies of the program. It’s been made known particularly through social media, Facebook, the printed and the electronic media and so on.

Since the change came in two years ago, I’ve heard nothing but negative comments about this new program. Those comments have come through social media, Facebook, the printed and the electronic media...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. My last question has to do with transportation, as he just mentioned. I appreciate that the transportation costs are rolled in. I appreciate that the living allowance has been rolled into salaries. It’s my understanding that transportation is weighted fairly heavily in the criteria that make up the methodology that determines northern allowance, so I’d like to know from the Minister why transportation is weighted so heavily compared to, say, living costs.

I want to thank the Minister for that explanation. I realize that this is a difficult topic to discuss, but I am a little concerned that Yellowknife employees may be at some kind of a disadvantage. So one of the things that the Minister referenced was a basket of living expenses, I guess you would call it. It struck me that this basket does not include transportation. Transportation is outside of this basket. The other thing that is outside of this basket is mortgages.

So can the Minister explain, from his experience in negotiating this particular issue, why transportation and mortgage expenses...