Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance as the Minister responsible for the public sector. I have questions in regards to the labour market supplement that was offered to the Union of Northern Workers.
Given that there is a labour shortage across our healthcare positions, what was the rationale for only including the frontline RNs and medical lab technicians in the proposed labour market supplement? Is the department planning at looking at other healthcare positions for a labour market supplement and if so, what are the timelines on that? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the labour market supplement was a policy tool that was developed, firstly, in consultation with the union.
In terms of what choice was made around which workers or which specific positions would first be would have the opportunity to utilize this policy, that was a choice made by the Department of Health and Social Services who was applying that policy. So there's a number of factors that are within the policy as to what types of positions should should qualify for what is an exceptional an exceptional tool, an exceptional that's being used to enhance costs or rather, to salaries and recruitment through the use of an enhancement, of enhanced pay. So that's why it was quite specific is because this was a segment that, in our view and in the view of the Department of Health and Social Services when it came forward, they had the evidence to support that these were positions that were difficult to recruit for, that they had tried to recruit for, that they weren't able to recruit for consistently. And, you know, again I won't go through all the elements of the policy that are there as to whether or not it we will be expanding or whether the Department of Health and Social Services will be expanding to other specific positions. Mr. Speaker, that will ultimately be a determination that they'll have to make looking at what's happening with the recruitment and retention processes and then bring that forward to to the Financial Management Board for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, well given that we've had a shortage of health care workers enough and this has been going on for long enough that it was one of the things that we did include in one of our priorities, can the Minister explain why the union wasn't approached sooner to negotiate the labour market supplement?
It's my understanding it was pretty much a give or you know, take it or leave it type scenario with not any room for negotiation. So why was the government not more proactive here versus reactive? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the union was engaged, I believe, back in the fall I believe in September, in fact, with respect to this labour market supplement in terms of its design, and then there was a process of going through to determine which positions to which this the supplement policy would properly apply.
But, Mr. Speaker, the health recruitment unit that now exists, and was developed both by Department of Finance and Health and Social Services, that's something that's been in the works obviously in response to the fact that there's been challenges in our healthcare and this is part of the mandate. That's been in the works for some time. It's looking not only at the salaries and compensation but at the totality of what the workplace situation is like.
You know, one of the elements that's considered in the supplement is whether or not the position itself is still at the top of the pay range compared to other jurisdictions in Canada. And in general, our health care workers continue to be high in the pay range and yet we still struggle. So we want to make sure that we're looking at the totality of what's happening in the workplace, morale issues, you know, workplace safety issues, whether it's the timing of the shifts, so on and so forth, Mr. Speaker. And so for that reason, it's more than just a labour market supplement and it's it's a process that's going to have to continue to go on but it is already well underway, and I'm again confident that we're going to continue to find good solutions as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my understanding in talking with people that while we may have health care workers at the top of the pay grade, it doesn't mean that they're making or pocketing or or getting ahead any more than in southern Canada. It is my understanding that that high pay is no longer lucrative enough for the to attract workers here.
Another thing that's causing issues around attracting workers here is our housing and childcare issues.
How is the Minister working with the other departments and how is the government addressing the fact that even if we could recruit a healthcare worker, we have no house for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a challenge, Mr. Speaker, that I hear about actually wearing my ITI hat as much as Finance in terms of an impact on labour market shortages in a variety of areas and particularly in the private sector as well. So certainly I'm very live to it.
With respect to childcare, obviously I'll turn it to my colleague at ECE and the news that's being announced around a movement towards $10 a day childcare. But back to more generally with respect to housing, again that is a wholeofgovernment problem and a wholeofgovernment challenge as it is a wholeofterritory challenge. So at that point, I'd turn to my colleague over at Housing. But yes, absolutely, you know, when we're recruiting folks in, we are trying to find to look for, you know, some assurances as to where they'll be going, to work with the community, work with the Department of Housing, and try see, you know, again you know, what is available, what will the needs be, and to work with the to work the morale to see that the person's that's coming in is being supported to transition to being a permanent resident here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to something that the Minister just said around contacting the union back in the fall.
It's my understanding that the union responded with several questions as well, and there was a very a large lack of engagement during the fall time and then into the new year at which point the union was presented with a take it or leave it.
Is it not maybe the Minister could speak to the fact that isn't it under the collective agreement that the government has a responsibility to negotiate with the union and not present take it or leave it scenarios? Can the Minister speak to what happened to the breakdown of negotiations. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a lot of discussion back and forth firstly around the design of the labour market supplement in which case some of the requests that were made by the union were, indeed, incorporated into that policy to better reflect some of their suggestions. Then when it came time to apply the policy on the first occasion where the Department of Health and Social Services had brought forward their suggestion, it you know, again, there was further discussions. There were requests to expand in a way that did not, in our view, meet the conditions of the policy. And so we were left with a situation where we were trying to apply the policy as designed and as written and as understood in a limited way, again being an exceptional policy to provide an enhanced salary or enhanced pay to a specific set of workers who meet a set of conditions, and of course, you know, I don't want to speak for the union, and I can't speak for the union, their view was that it should have been expanded and applied more broadly. That's the situation we found ourselves in.
You know, I don't again, not speaking for the union, I certainly don't think that anybody that was involved in that process was happy with where it ended, Mr. Speaker, to be quite frank. I think anyone in the territories, very well aware that there's a lot of challenges in the healthcare sector right now, a lot of challenges in that employment area across Canada, and we are looking for solutions. We're going to continue to look for solutions, and we want the union to be partners with us in that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
