I think that when the department proceeded with bringing the extra monitors in, monitoring traffic and monitoring other traffic on the winter road in the Sahtu, we were doing that for safety reasons. Recognizing that on our trip into the Sahtu on the winter road, the road being rough is also a safety issue. I will go back to the department, and the department seemed very responsive when I first discussed it with them. So I will go back to the department to see if there can be money freed up somewhere within our O and M budget to maybe do some more work on that winter road in the Sahtu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. I’ve noticed how much the people in the Sahtu appreciate the Minister coming in and driving a section of that winter road and seeing firsthand the conditions that people have to drive day in and day out.
Given the limited amount of time that we have on our winter roads, given that Fort Good Hope is going to experience a lot of traffic this weekend because of the hand games, a lot of people are coming in for the hand games and a written e-mail from one of my constituents who is in the department is working that section, so people can call that Transportation person and make comments or complaints to Transportation about the winter roads. There’s going to be a lot of traffic and people are concerned about the driving conditions.
We will do what we can to try to fix the road up, maybe pay some special attention to that portion of the road. We noticed on our drive there, about half of that road is in pretty good shape. So we’re probably talking about 60 to 80 kilometres of road that is rough as we get nearer to Fort Good Hope.
What we can also do is have the indication of the number or any of the people that need to be contacted to address winter road issues on the website. Then I’ll have the people attend to that winter road website to ensure that the contact people are there for this weekend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe people who are in the Sahtu or people who are planning to go up to the Sahtu appreciate what the Minister is saying in this House this afternoon.
I want to also thank the Minister and to follow up on his commitment on a preconstruction meeting for next year.
Is the Minister also going to seek the opinion of one of the users as Bassett Petroleum operators and see if they can be a part of that preconstruction discussion as to the conditions of our winter roads? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I can’t commit to having the contractors that are hauling contractors attend such a meeting, but what I can commit to is that as they continue to do their reports and giving us good indications of the driving conditions of the road that we will take those reports into consideration during the preconstruction meeting. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since 2007 we have not had a suppression crew in the community of Tsiigehtchic. I brought this up yesterday in Committee of the Whole, but for the record I’d like to ask the Minister, will he work with the community of Tsiigehtchic to enter into an agreement to have a suppression crew in the community this coming summer? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I listened to the Member’s statement about bullying with interest. In regard to his question, the answer is yes.
Will the Minister ensure that we have this agreement in place so that we can have a crew in the community early in the season, like June? Thank you.
In follow up on our discussion in the Committee of the Whole yesterday, yes.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to once again return to the Minister of Justice, because from what I was hearing on this particular side of the House is that clearly it sounds like he’s defending the status quo by doing nothing.
I’m asking the Minister maybe to explain the communication and accountability line between the Department of Justice and the RCMP. Because if we have no authority to provide policy guidance to them, what’s the point of having a Minister of Justice? We should have the RCMP member sitting there answering questions. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Justice, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP are professionals, they’re experts in their field, and at the end of the day, it’s their decision about notifying the public. They work with the public prosecution service. But if the Member wants me to have a discussion with the RCMP, I will certainly go back and have a discussion with the RCMP. Thank you.
Well, it took five questions to get to the point of saying he will have a discussion if the Member asks for a discussion.
So, the question for the Minister this time is: What is the Minister going to do to talk to the RCMP about updating their policy about informing the public about a predator on the loose? Thank you.
As I mentioned, the RCMP are there to protect our communities. We have a number of people employed at the Department of Justice through our probation services. People are there. Policies are in place to protect our communities, protect our public. Again, some of the questions the Member is asking me today, really, I find somewhat insulting to people who are putting their lives on the line every day going to work and also keeping our communities safe. Thank you.
Well, I’m really sorry I hurt the Minister’s feelings, but frankly, I don’t care. The reality here is that the public’s interest needs to come first, not a predator on the loose. I’m not going to ask the Minister’s opinion, because frankly, I don’t care.
I want to know what the Minister is going to do about making sure that we have an effective policy of communication so when we have a predator on the loose in our communities preying on women, children and some men that the public are informed so they can be vigilant about this type of problem.
I mentioned it earlier, I’ll say it again, I will go back and have a discussion with the RCMP. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I want to know the nature of this discussion. Is he going to call them? Is he going to talk to them and say, “Hey, how ya doing?” I want to know if he’s going to take the public’s interest first, or is he going to protect the institution?
I have great respect for the RCMP. It’s not about that. Every one of those folks in red serge knows that I proudly believe in the work that they do. I also believe equally in the public’s safety.
So, I want to hear that the Minister is going to bring them this issue and provide them some instruction that we need to ensure the public’s safety matters and they’re going to update it so it reflects that. Thank you.
Public safety matters to the RCMP and it matters to me, and again, that discussion will happen. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today for the Minister of Human Resources. I mentioned earlier, in terms of the due date of a report, it needs to be coupled with a whistleblower protection act of some sort. I know we did have the agreement on the Safe Disclosure Act and I know the department was working on creating legislation.
I want to ask the Minister of Human Resources, where are we on that legislation and when can we expect to see that legislation introduced to the House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department is looking at this legislation and considering two options. The first option is to create stand-alone legislation, in which case the department would like to see some disclosures and how the disclosures have been based. The disclosures are based on the misuse of public funds, an illegal act, gross mismanagement and a substantial and significant danger to health and safety or the environment.
Since we had the memorandum of understanding signed with the UNW, we’ve had one safe disclosure. Because it’s restricted to that area, we’re thinking maybe that’s why we’ve only had one disclosure. Now we’re looking at creating legislation, but we may actually be adding it to the modernization of the Public Service Act as opposed to stand-alone legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I know we’ve had this agreement in place for a long time. Only having one uptake in it, that does create some alarms. Why aren’t we hearing more from our employees when sometimes we as MLAs hear it from the employees on a one-on-one basis?
What kind of support is given to our employees so they have the opportunity to speak up without any kind of reprimands to themselves or their jobs? What supports are given to our employees for them to speak up, especially on the health and safety aspect with workers in the workplace? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We have training sessions with the employees on disclosure. We have a Harassment-Free and Respectful Workplace Policy that clarifies personal harassment within the GNWT and the public service. We are trying to let individuals know that if they do disclosure in any of those areas that I spoke of, it would be a safe disclosure.
The only thing we could come up with on why there has been so little uptake is people actually don’t feel safe disclosing with the public service, with their supervisors, management and so on. I too get a lot of calls where I indicate to the people that this is an opportunity if you think this is what’s going on, do it this way. But their preference is to have the Department of Human Resources handle it in the way that they wish to have it handled through my office, through the deputy minister’s office and so on.
We are trying to get the word out to people that there would be safety in disclosure. Thank you.
I’m glad to hear that the Minister of Human Resources, who is undertaking this Safe Disclosure Act, is in fact also hearing from employees that there are some issues around health and safety in other areas that have been identified. That means there is a stronger need or a stronger support for employees.
As the Minister responsible for Human Resources, would he make a commitment to do a campaign where our Minister of Human Resources affirms to our employees that he’s behind them, to speak up and get some of these issues drawn out on the table, either in an awareness campaign on the radio or in a news release, that he commits to supporting our employees that they have the right to work in a safe and healthy environment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I will commit to getting information out advising the public service, most likely on our website. That would indicate that we support people who wish to disclose in any of these areas. If that still doesn’t generate anything, then we may go to sending out a form letter to all of the staff in the public service. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The time for oral questions has expired. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committees on the review of bills. Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Government Operations wishes to report that it is reviewing Bill 37, Financial Administration Act, and would like to inform the House that additional time is required to complete the committee review of Bill 37.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two documents I would like to table today. One is a media release that was put out on February 12, 2015, entitled “Elder Abuse – ‘Duty to Report’ Should be Enshrined in Law.” There was unanimous agreement by CARP Poll.”
The second one is a comprehensive strategy to eradicate elder abuse founded by the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. I would like to table both these documents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. Item 15, notices of motion. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. Item 18, first reading of bills. Item 19, second reading of bills. Item 20, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 12, Northern Employee Benefits Services Pension Plan Act; Bill 38, An Act to Amend the Jury Act; Bill 41, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act; Bill 46, Deline Final Self-Government Agreement Act; Committee Report 10-17(5), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2013-2014 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; and Tabled Document 188-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2015-2016, with Mrs. Groenewegen in the chair.
I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order for this afternoon and ask what is the wish of the committee. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Madam Chair. We wish to consider Bill 43 and then Tabled Document 188-17(5), Northwest Territories Main Estimates 2015-2016, continuing with Environment and Natural Resources and, time permitting, Municipal and Community Affairs and Department of Lands. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Is committee agreed?
