Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Human Resources. I want to follow up my statement and talk a bit about bullying in the workplace.
Certainly over the last year to two years there’s been some excellent work done on behalf of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and they’ve been targeting young people. But bullying, as I said, transcends age and gender and it applies to society as a whole, but it also particularly applies in workplaces.
So in terms of the GNWT workplace, I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources whether or not there is anything that is being done within the GNWT to raise the profile of workplace bullying. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT across the board does have policies in the workplace against bullying, but I don’t have the information on the specific programs that are run, but there are programs that the GNWT looks at to prevent bullying in the workplace. Thank you.
Thanks to the Minister. I’ve done some looking into what exists within the GNWT. I certainly didn’t find very much. I did find, as I mentioned, the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy, I think is the title, and I think there’s an MOU, perhaps, with one or the other of our unions. As far as I know, there is nothing in any of our legislation and nothing in any of our policies which specifically says bullying. Harassment, yes, but not bullying.
So, I’d like to know if harassment is referenced, what is there within either the Department of Human Resources or within the government that assists workers if they have been bullied or they see bullying and they wish to report it, what system exists for them to do that? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT strives to have a respectful workplace. The labour relations is a course that is a requirement for all managers in the GNWT and there are some more courses and programs that are going to be a requirement for managers in the GNWT that will address this particular issue. The individuals that feel that they’re being bullied have options to go to their managers if they think that their managers are the ones providing or distributing the bullying or they have the option to go to the next level. They have the option to go to union if they happen to be unionized. They can go to their Employee and Family Assistance Program as a place to start if they feel that harassment and bullying is something they are enduring in the workplace. Thank you.
I hear what the Minister is saying, but I don’t hear that we have addressed the word “bullying” in anything that we do. That’s where I’m trying to go. Harassment is not the same as bullying. Yes, it is similar, but I couldn’t find anything in any literature on the GNWT website which talks specifically to bullying and I think we need to go there.
The Minister mentioned earlier that there are some programs that people can access. He mentioned that people can go to their supervisor and work themselves on up the line, but I’d like to know from the Minister if he could tell me, please, what those programs are that he referenced and if he could tell me where I can find the chain of command that he referenced. Where can I find a policy that tells me, if I have been bullied, where I can go? Thank you.
As the Member indicated, the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy would be a good place to start. Also, I referred to some of the labour relations training that would be a requirement for managers. Once those requirements are set down for various managers in the GNWT, that will educate the managers in this area. That is another place where we can see some results for perhaps bullying and harassment together. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure I really understood what the Minister was saying. I believe we need to address bullying in our workplace and we need to use that word. I don’t think I heard any commitment from the Minister to try to go there. I also didn’t hear from the Minister that we have concrete plans in place.
I would like to know from the Minister if he would commit to reviewing what policies we do have, the Harassment Free Policy, if he would commit to finding out what MOUs exist and if he would look at our legislation. I think the only legislation that applies is the Occupational Health Act or Occupational Safety Act. I can’t remember the name of it. Would he commit to looking at those and specifically address them and make changes addressing the word “bullying”? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it’s occupational health and safety training that’s performed by GNWT, labour relations. Of course, I do recognize that there is some bullying that occurs in the GNWT workplace as well. I don’t think it’s frequent, but it is there. I will be prepared to talk to the department and look at specifically trying to incorporate bullying into some of our work that we’re doing to try to make the GNWT a more respectful workplace. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
