Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? Motion is defeated.
Defeated
Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the word "Premier" be added to any clause in section 79 where reference is made to the Speaker or Minister. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Madam Chair, this recommendation is related to motion 16 about the transition allowance, and for that reason, I recommend that it be defeated. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is defeated.
Defeated
Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends the following clause to section 79, page 48, of the Members' handbook be removed: For a Member who is a former Speaker or Minister, the transition allowance is equal and limited to their annual indemnity at the time of eligibility. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. The Member for Hay River South.
Madam Chair, again this recommendation is related to Motion 16 about the transition allowance and, for that reason, I recommend that it be defeated.
Thank you, Member. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in flavour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is defeated.
Defeated
Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that Members be advised that they can access financial planning support from an independent advisor when they leave office. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Madam Chair, I support this motion. The transition for Members out of politics and either back into private life or retirement can bring with it complex financial considerations. This is a service currently provided to Members. We just need to communicate it better in the run up to and after election. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.
Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Towards the end of last Assembly, I did participate in a oneday seminar with a financial planner along with at least one other MLA and our partners. I found it to be very useful. And I understand with COVID, it's not as easy to access these services as it was before but I expect that that will improve. So this already happens, and it actually happens across the GNWT, I know, for other employees as well, that they are offered similar opportunities for training and advice. So I agree and support this recommendation and knowing that it already happens. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? Motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that while each MLA continues to negotiate the salary level for their constituency assistant, the minimum hourly rate should be not less than $25 per hour. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion. The Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Legislative Assembly's current constituency assistant hourly rates range from $25 to $46 per hour. The average is approximately $35 per hour. No one is below $25 per hour. Members prefer to have some flexibility in terms of how they manage and compensate their constituency assistant so I recommend that this motion be defeated. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, no one is paying the constituency assistant less than $25 an hour right now, and I guess I'm in favour of this so that no one ever does. You know, hopefully one day in this territory we get to minimum wage of $25 an hour, but. And well, and if inflation keeps up at this rate, we might get there a lot sooner than we expected. But I think we should lead by example, and I don't really see any harm in setting this as at least the bare minimum floor going forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.
Yes, thanks, Madam Chair. I agree with my colleague from Yellowknife North on this. In the last Assembly, we worked pretty hard to ensure that our constituency assistants, they're now eligible for, you know, different kind of benefits. And we worked hard to try to promote them as employees here within the they're not within the civil service but trying to make sure that we could find some ways to keep our constituency assistants as well. I can tell you that I pay my constituency assistant more than $25 an hour, and I think they deserve a living wage, and this is probably in about the neighbourhood I would expect that a living wage would be for somebody in Yellowknife. I have no problem setting this as a floor as this recommendation is suggesting. So I will vote in favour of it. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Madam Chair. My problem is it's not the minimum wage. My problem is it isolation allowance? You know, we give I know my CA's getting more than $25 an hour but we should be giving them isolation allowance. That's what we should be doing. So this motion here doesn't address that, especially for our constituent assistants outside of Yellowknife. So that there is where I'm you know, I'm already paying more than $25 an hour but isolation allowance is where the impact on in my riding, I have staff that, you know, my CA works with me but he could work for the government and get the same amount of money plus get the isolation allowance. So that there I think the Legislative Assembly needs to look at that for the next time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Motion is carried. Oh, abstentions? None. The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the budget amounts available to MLAs for constituency assistant salaries be increased by the Canadian consumer price index annually. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Madam Chair, Members' constituency expense allowances are increased annually by the Canadian consumer price index. So funding available to extend this increase to constituency assistants already exists and it is at the discretion of the Member. I recommend that this recommendation be defeated. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Oh, Member for Frame Lake.
Thanks, Madam Chair. This is something I already do as a Member, and I'm just trying to weigh whether this is something we want to put into the rules or not, in one way or another. But that's what I do already. Well, I guess given that I generally try to come down on the side of workers, I am going to support this. Thanks, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I don't think anyone in here well, I know no one in here pays their CA less than $25 an hour. We know that from the previous motion. And I think people in here understand that if you want a good CA, you have to pay them. You know, that's the market across the Northwest Territories, across Canada right now. If you want good people, you have to pay them. That's why I voted against the last recommendation. I'm voting against this one because we're getting to the point now where the Assembly is really controlling how I run my constituency office. And I think that, you know, it's a bit of a slippery slope before we move it to something you know, something less flexible, something where it is the Assembly, not the MLA who is managing their office. And so that's my concern here, is that we're encroaching a bit into the independence of MLAs and their ability to operate their constituency office and work in their constituency in the way that they best see fit. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member for Range Lake.
I spoke to the other one too but this is kind of in the same concept, I guess, is that my issue is that we have people that are making minimum wage in society and currently, at this point, they don't get a CPI increase although I would like to see that. I know that we are looking at changing that. But at this point and the other thing is that some Members have more than one constituent assistant, Madam Chair. Some of them have two, one in their riding and one here in the capital is what I've noticed as well. So I think in the spirit of fairness to Members that may have more than one or two people in lower income bracket, then I'd have to vote against this. But I do want to stress to all MLAs that your constituent assistants are valuable; they're doing hard work; and so again, I would recommend that all of them get you consider increases to them on a regular basis. But I can't support it on the principle that we don't allow that for all people. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? Motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Hay River South.
