Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I spoke about wellness programs and potential wellness days, so I have questions for the Minister of Finance. Can the Minister provide an updated status on the negotiation with the Union of Northern Workers? I know he's made a commitment to meet committee to provide something, but can he give us a general synopsis of this update, please? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct, last week at the request of the Member for Frame Lake we did commit to providing a status update to the Priorities and Planning Committee. Today I can confirm that the employees and the Union of Northern Workers are sitting back down at the bargaining tomorrow to continue negotiation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I thank the Minister for his answer. Can the Minister tell us: what does the Government of the Northwest Territories do to help the employees' wellness in the workplace?
The Government of the Northwest Territories, we value the contribution that our employees bring to the Government of the Northwest Territories. As such, we have a number of programs to help with employee wellness. The Employee and Family Assistance Program, for example, is one that is available to all employees, and free of charge. In 2016-17, our Learning and Development Calendar offered 24 webinars on a variety of wellness topics, and there are plenty of opportunities that were included in that. I could provide some of the training opportunities to the Members. It is a fairly lengthy list to be reading out, so I will provide that.
I thank the Minister for that answer. I am happy to hear that we are doing some good stuff for our employees. In my Member’s statement, I talked about the potential for providing five wellness days for Government of the Northwest Territories employees. Has the Government of the Northwest Territories looked to this idea, and will they bring it to the UNW?
The Government of the Northwest Territories, we presently provide very generous vacation, sick, and special leave provisions to our employees. At the present, we are not looking to expend our leave provisions; however, in this round of negotiations, my understanding is that there was a proposed memorandum of understanding that both the employer and the union would work together, to review and recommend ways to improve mental health in the workplace.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I totally agree that this government has some really good packages, but we are talking about employees’ wellness, and to do that, we are looking at the hours of work. We heard the teachers work 52 hours a week doing their job, but also, I notice that regular workers have 37.5 to 40 hours a week, but they put more hours in. They put more hours into this, so with the cuts and eliminations to positions, and the potential for no raises resulting in the collective bargaining, it is important to show employees that they are valued. Can the Minister commit to looking at this idea in greater detail, and advise this House of the outcome of this work? Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am glad we got the 52 hours cleared up. I have five teachers in our family, so I know first-hand the amounts of hours that they put in, and for the most part, it is more than 52 hours a week. To the Member’s question, we have wellness specialists research the topic of wellness days, and I think that the Member asked if I would provide some detail to the committee, or the House, on the outcome of that work. Once we have that work done, Mr. Speaker, I will have a conversation with the committee.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
