Mr. Speaker, today I would like to ask the Minister of ECE, regarding the staff, how they are treating people while giving help or assistance on Income Support and regarding the way they are being treated.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. With all the communities we serve — 33 communities — we do provide client service officers to deal with those clients in the communities. Where communities may not have client service officers, we do have visitations on a regular schedule. If there are any issues or concerns, that should be brought forward to the regional representative of the income support assistant as well. Certainly, we provide all income support related issues to these clients in the communities on a regular basis. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to me that he will speak to all staff on how they are treating the people in my riding? I’m getting more than one call in regard to staffing issues. I’m not going to name names; I just think people should be treated with respect, and they don’t deserve being ridiculed. They don’t want to go and get help; they want to be working. But the staff should have a little bit more respect for the people and who they are serving.
I appreciate the Member’s addressing this issue to my attention today. If it is an issue, we need to deal with it as a department. Certainly, the respect should always be there between the community members, the clientele and Education, Culture and Employment employees. We do an orientation package for all employees on how to deal with the clients. Even at stressful moments or most critical moments they need to deal with it at a professional level. That is what we’re faced with, and we’ll continue to do that. I certainly commit to the Member that I will look into this matter in his riding. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Minister. Again, the people we represent are not happy with going there. Just remind the staff that we work for the people, and it’s not the other way around.
This message has been clearly laid out here in the House, and I’m sure people are watching as well. My staff are fully in gear, watching this process as well. Certainly that message will be carried over to the department and on to the region as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
