Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. I think it's important that we use the data that we have and that we understand the data we have and that we can use it to make change.
My questions for the Minister of Finance today are in regards to how the COVID19 is impacting public servants in the territory. Does the Minister know what percentage of GNWT employees are currently on stress leave? Thank you.
Thank you. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, there's not a category of leave that is specific to stress or mental health leave. We do, of course, track and are aware of general sick leave but the specific reasons that someone might be on sick leave is, for I suspect fairly reasonable privacy reasons, that's not something that we are tracking. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. That kind of changes, I guess, some of my questions. And I understand that this is a privacy concern between employees and supervisors. But is there a mechanism for, then, the Department of Finance to be able to blindly sort that information from NWT service providers or through, because I'm assuming that this is getting logged under shortterm disability instead or longterm disability, is there a mechanism from either insurance providers or healthcare providers where this can be blindly provided to the GNWT? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's an interesting question that I'll have to take away. It may well be that the vital statistics is tracking some information or receiving information more broadly about the impacts of mental health on mental health pre and postpandemic. It may be of some assistance or of some interest that interestingly GNWT employees, as I said we are tracking the total numbers and we're actually using less sick days, less leave without pay days than in prior fiscal years. Prepandemic, we were at 9.1 days in the 20182019 but current fiscal right now, coming to the end of it, we're at only an average of six. And I can also say, perhaps I'll provide the Member directly, I do have a list of the number of accesses to some of the various mental health programs that the GNWT runs and the numbers there. So I will provide that separately, and that may well lead to some more discussion. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Yes, thank you very much, Madam Speaker. And no, I thank the Minister for the willingness to have the offline conversation. And I think it'll be interesting as well to see that in the year or, the fiscal year we're going into now, now that public servants are back to their workplaces and we're coming to the potential end of the public health emergency, it'll be interesting to see how that has an impact on sick days going forward, and really if people being able to have the opportunity to work remotely has an impact on sick days that are being logged.
I know that in other workplaces, public health and safety, in addition to occupational health and safety, is something that a lot more employers are talking about. And so I'm wondering if this is a conversation that's currently occurring within the Department of Finance within the responsibility of an employer to monitor, support the psychological health and safety, especially coming out of a pandemic, of their workers and public servants in the territory? Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm conscious of time on this one, I have to admit. Yes, I'm struggling with where to start.
So we have quite a number of programs that we do provide to employees, some that were introduced to as additional items in the course of the COVID19 pandemic. I think really, though, Madam Speaker, this is a much bigger issue. I can say that I had inquired with the department and the conversation around morale which is related perhaps in part, though certainly doesn't encompass everything that I know is specific to mental health but about that wellness of employees, the wellness of public servants, the impact of being asked to do more through a pandemic when they were suffering themselves at home and working through conditions that were not normal.
So I know that the Department of Finance is right now taking on the effort to bring that into our human resources plan, looking at some initiatives around new training that can help to better identify that wellness, that psychological wellness in a workplace. There's literally work out right now to try and see what we can bring in in that regard. So short answer is yes, the conversations are occurring, and I am hopeful that I'll be able to report back to this House some more information about what that's going to look for the future of the public service. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Can you put me back on the list for an additional Minister, thank you.
Thank you. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
