Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In 1989, the Public Service Alliance of Canada filed an equal pay or work of equal value complaint against the Government of the Northwest Territories. The complaint alleged that the government had broken the Canadian Human Rights Act by paying men more than women in similar jobs. In June of 2002, three years later, this government, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission agreed on a deal for GNWT unionized employees regarding equal pay for work of equal value; an historic settlement, Mr. Speaker. It recognized that both former and current workers, regardless of gender, deserved the same pay for the jobs they performed.

The settlement recognized our obligation as an employer to compensate employees between 1989 and 1998, and resulted in a government-wide re-assessment of the value of many jobs our civil service performs. The settlement applies to both casual part-time, as well as full-time employees. An estimated $50 million was set aside for the total settlement. Some $23 million of that was distributed by the time of the settlement in June of 2002.

Mr. Speaker, a deadline of December 31st of this year, two months from now, was set for application for those who had not received their compensation. Our government undertook to contact those who had not applied and, understandably, some employees were not captured in the search process. The chance for them to find out if they are eligible runs out in two months. I am told there are still hundreds of names on the casual employee list who could be eligible.

Mr. Speaker, tremendous effort and expense went into this historic settlement. It seems many who should get their rightful share of the $50 million allocation have yet to file. I will be asking the Minister about our progress to date and what is being done to make a final call for the workers at the appropriate time today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause