Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister responsible for human resources.
Mr. Speaker, whatever one's perception of those vaccinated or not vaccinated against COVID19, we must follow our laws, legislation, regulations, and policies, which, in the creation, must be made in conformity with the Constitution and followed as we create new laws and rules.
So therefore, can the Minister confirm how federal government restrictions respecting air travel for vaccinated and unvaccinated public government employees in the NWT played into developing our COVID19 vaccine policies? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the Government of the Northwest Territories vaccine policies were initially being developed, this was back in August, and if I recall correctly it was actually before the time that we had heard what the final federal policies might be, we were doing our best to develop our policy for the needs of our communities, having heard from Indigenous governments and communities here in the North and being aware of the vulnerable population we have in the North and seeing the evolution of COVID19 to that point. And around that time, Mr. Speaker, other jurisdictions started to come out with other policies, their own policies at around that same time, and but we really we were doing our policy, you know, based on our analysis and not waiting on that of others or dependant upon that of other jurisdictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Considering the federal exemptions came out, you know, sometime in December and continued on. So after review and clarification of the federal restrictions on air travel for the NWT, of the employees placed on leave without pay can the Minister confirm how many have returned to work and received compensation for the time they were on leave? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, there of course is the GNWT's vaccination policy but then there are also some employees who, because of the existence of federal policies either in the places where they need to attend, such as an RCMP detachment, or because of the concern around travel, they would have been doubly impacted because of their job descriptions on on those policies. And the federal government had put in place an exemption initially to January 31st, and it was our exemption that or our understanding that that at that point, people who were subject to needing to travel under their job descriptions would be on leave without pay because that exemption was no longer in place. That exemption was in fact renewed, and so there were, I gather, a total of I believe six or seven employees who were impacted and who were placed on leave without pay and who are since now welcomed back to return to their duties as a result of not having to travel and who can then comply with the GNWT's policy where if they're choosing to not provide a proof of vaccination, they can undertake PPE, protective protective equipment and testing in order to comply with their policies and, of course, any loss of pay during that period they would be compensated back for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister confirm if changes to COVID restrictions in the NWT will result in the elimination of revision of current vaccine policy? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, as I think folks are generally aware, we are anticipating that there will be some changes to the overall restrictions and approach to COVID19 under the chief public health officer chief public health office and the associated orders as of April 1st. Mr. Speaker, when that occurs we certainly will be reviewing revising and updating our own policy accordingly. It's always preferable, Mr. Speaker, in my view to communicate directly with employees first and not necessarily to make statements here in the House that affect them, but I would say that employees should be expecting to have an update from us imminently. We're just again wanting to make sure that we are acting in tandem and in lockstep with what's happening with the chief public health officer who I know has been looking at numbers right up to right up to the end here to make sure that what we're doing is, in fact, the safest possible approach for well, for residents, but in our case, for employees as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this has been a stressful time I guess for everybody, you know, vaccinated/ unvaccinated, you know, for everybody in the territories and throughout Canada. And more so, I guess for, you know, those those employees who were, you know, placed on leave without a paycheque and it was even more stressful on them and their families.
So due to the employees placed on leave without pay who could have continued working while meeting the federal restrictions for air travel, will the Minister offer a public apology to those employees who mistakenly lost their employment or placed or were placed on leave without pay? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I when we discovered that this that the change in the federal exemption hadn't been applied, it wasn't again, it was not it was something that we were not aware of, that their changes were not a public change. It was a change not communicated to to the Department of Finance. So as soon as we became aware of it, the employ the affected employees were contacted. I certainly, Mr. Speaker, I don't mind, and I think it's appropriate to say that I would not want to see hardship caused to any employee, any member of the public service, including those seven. I'm sorry that they went through that process. They've been contacted. They will not see any loss. They'll have their their compensation, their salaries dealt with appropriately so that they don't have to suffer any financial hardship or consequences. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
