Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. Earlier, we heard that all departments do have response plans, and I am glad to hear that we have been working on this for a number of weeks. My question is: at what point in those response plans do we start telling GNWT employees to not attend work?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That time is not now. That's a discussion that has been ongoing for some time. It has been a discussion that has been happening in some detail for some time, since January, really, but these plans are plans that have existed long before now. They are plans that were developed last year when we were facing the strike and owing from years before when they were dealing with H1N1. There are different gradients for each department. There are different needs for each department. We have to consider our health department and our essential services first, make sure that their needs are being met, make sure that we're also looking at whether or not we have the technical capacity to increase having people off working online. All of those things are being discussed and considered right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate that answer. My concern here is that all of these things work together, and if we are closing schools, people lose childcare. If we are losing day homes, people lose childcare, and it's important that, if we're asking people to continue showing up to offices when they could be working from home, but they don't have childcare, we are putting them in a very difficult situation. My question to the Minister of Finance is: are people remote working now, those who are able?
Certainly, anyone who is following the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer and who is returning from international travel should be working from home right now. Beyond that, anyone who has concerns or needs, such as childcare, resulting from the current situation ought to be speaking to their supervisor. All departments, I am sure, I am confident, are working closely and working with human resources to support their people right now in whatever circumstances they might find themselves, whether it's because they've returned from international travel or if they are needing to care for someone who is in that situation. If there is a need like that, I would suggest that every single department is aware and that the supervisors are aware and that they are in contact with human resources, and we will, for the time being, face that one step at a time.
I appreciate that answer. My concern here is that remote working requires some logistics. We have to build the technical capacity. I believe that we should start doing this now. We should start piloting sending different sections of departments who can work from home to do it. I'm not talking about front-line healthcare workers, obviously, or essential services, but we are the largest employer in this territory, and I believe that many of our workers should be working from home now. If we are closing schools and daycares and closing mass gatherings, it does not make sense to have 5,000 public civil servants who can work from home being at work. My question is: will the Minister of Finance start directing departments to begin their workers remote working?
We don't need to pilot anything, and we don't need to start having the conversations about the technologies. The conversations about the technology have started. TSC and Information and Shared Services are already working together. The Department of Finance is already engaging and supporting Northwestel and their efforts to ensure that we have adequate bandwidth. These things are happening, so they don't need to start, and they don't need to pilot.
What I am not going to do is stand here and direct departments, who each have their own operational needs and who all have an operational plan. Departments are running tabletop exercises this week. They're determining whether or not they need to change the way that they are offering their programs and services, and whether work is done a certain way, and I am confident that, if the time arises where they need to have a directive, then that directive will issue. Until that time, if individuals can't attend work because they are sick, because they've returned, because they have childcare arising from what is happening, then they should be taking that up department by department, and each department is well aware that there are options for workers and that we are working to increase those options and to evaluate whether we need to change that as we go forward.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
