Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak about the unjust delay the correctional officers are having to go through in getting their retroactive pay from this government.

First of all, I must tell you, Mr. Speaker, this whole issue has been an ongoing saga for over five years. Throughout that time a group of correctional officers had to fight step by step for an increase in pay from job evaluations given to other correctional officers doing the same jobs due to a technical error argument put forward by the government. They worked patiently through their appeal and grievance process and finally on January 9th of this year they received a favourable arbitration decision fair and square.

Throughout this time, I was assured by the government that it would live up to its obligations coming out of the arbitration. In fact, Mr. Speaker, this House passed a supplementary appropriation during the last budget session to accommodate this retroactive pay.

So imagine, Mr. Speaker, my disappointment and surprise when I was informed earlier this summer that they still have not received their retroactive pay and that they would not receive it until the end of August. That was bad enough, but it’s been getting worse. The latest information is that the deadline has now been moved to the end of November and there is a very good possibility that this could be delayed again.

Mr. Speaker, this is simply outrageous. Some of these officers are entitled to tens of thousands of dollars and they are not even entitled to any interest payments while the government continues to keep their money indefinitely. For the life of me, I don’t understand why the government has to turn this good news item into such a PR disaster and a morale buster. Mr. Speaker, this is a really bad way to treat all the public servants involved, the correctional officers and the payroll officers, and there appears to be more bad news to come, Mr. Speaker.

We know that just since last spring many health care professionals have received an increase in pay due to a re-evaluation of their positions. My information is that all of them have to line up behind all the other retroactive files, including correctional officers, without any additional human resources being put forward, Mr. Speaker. I have had a number of discussions about this in private, and the best answer I get from the government is that there is a shortage of staff due to high turnover and that this is a highly technical field that people can’t just be trained to do, and so the contingent of payroll officers in existence…

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Ms. Lee, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Ms. Lee is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my information is that even though there’s all this extra work that needs to be put through to do these retroactive files, which I hear is very labour -intensive, there are no additional staff being hired, so the contingent of payroll officers that are in place have to do this as extra work on top of their regular work. So, Mr. Speaker, this is outrageous, this is totally unacceptable and I urge the Minister of FMBS and this government to take immediate steps to do better and pay these officers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause