Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome everybody back and hope you all had an enjoyable few months either back at home working for your constituents doing committee work or as a Minister doing their work here back home.

Today, Mr. Speaker, I stand in the House to recognize my former constituency assistant, Leona Norwegian, known to everyone as Pearl. It is a bittersweet day that I recognize her today. If you know Pearl, you will recognize that she was never one for the spotlight. She was a person behind the scene and did not want the spotlight on her. Well, with her retiring away from...

I thank the Minister for his answer. I, too, am looking for mental health days here at some point in time. I thank him for that. My next question: what is the criteria that is being used to offer positions to affected employees besides them just being affected employees?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his commitment to finding out and making sure that people are well informed. From my last question, Mr. Speaker: should the affected employees be offered another employment opportunity within this government and they take it, but during this time, something else in the government comes up that is more suited to them, are they able to apply for that position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for his answer. That is great to hear. Does this government offer removal assistance to affected employees who do not get offered a new position within this government?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Into today's society, we have become more conscious about recycling our waste material. However, in saying this we should be doing more.

In Fort Simpson, Troy Bellefontaine, owner of the business Beauty Mark, has taken this idea one step further. Mr. Bellefontaine has partnered with Green Circle Salons to make his business a more sustainable venture, but more importantly it has helped him divert a majority of the business waste away from Fort Simpson Landfill.

Mr. Speaker, Beauty Mark is the first salon in the Northwest Territories to sign on. He says, "We are a small salon...

I again thank the Minister for that answer. It’s good to hear. However, I’ve been in contact with some of these affected employees or even contacted myself and other honourable Members here. What happens if a non-reasonable offer is being offered to these individuals or on an unacceptable timeline? Like you’ve got three days to make a decision on this position; what can the employee do to make sure that this is addressed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was asking some questions of the Minister of Human Resources today about his Minister's statement. I understand the government does a great job trying to offer positions to affected employees. However, my question to the Minister previously may not have been asked properly, so I am going to ask it again: if the affected employee is offered a job and accepts it because it is the only position available at that time, and during the time he is in this position another position becomes available, is he able to apply for this position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I kind of didn’t get an answer, but I got sort of an answer, so I will move on to my next question. Does the affected employee have to go through the standard probation period with the new job offer?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, we have heard from the Minister of Human Resources about success in retraining GNWT public servants. I have some questions for him here. Mr. Speaker, when there are no vacancies in the community where the position is cut, does the government offer the affected employee the opportunity to move to another job in another community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Premier for that answer. It is just a basic cost service approach, which is really good. With this being a 12-month pilot project, has the GNWT and the federal government developed an evaluation to see if this project is successful?