Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions will be for the Minister of Finance/Human Resources.
Mr. Speaker, some of the GNWT departments will require employees to confirm they have been vaccinated prior to showing up for for work starting today. And others not vaccinated may be accommodated or turned away.
So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister explain to this to this Assembly the timing and process employees will be will be required to follow to confirm their vaccination status and is privacy, as it relates to private health information, a consideration when sharing that information and is it consistent throughout all departments, including NTPC and NWT Housing Corporation? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me just be clear first at the outset that it is, indeed everyone that has to be, at this point, providing a proof of vaccination or else they will be asked to comply with enhanced personal protective equipment and ultimately a testing regime.
In doing so, in asking our employees to comply with that policy, privacy absolutely was a top consideration, Mr. Speaker. The information that we are requesting, the records we are requesting, they are, indeed, going to be held on a needtoknow only basis at the Department of Human Department of Finance and Human Resources within the human resources information system. These folks are very accustomed to dealing with very sensitive information. It is secure, and it is private. I certainly would not let that to be a barrier to anyone complying with the policy to keep themselves and their families and their coworkers safe.
As for its application, Mr. Speaker, as I believe has been discussed this week, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation does have their own policy also in place. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation does, however, fall within this one.
So, yes, Mr. Speaker, this is it's time this is time, it's now upon us, but, again, the information is going to be kept secure and confidential. So this if there's anyone out there who still hasn't provided their proof of vaccination, please, please get on the system and get that done today. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, knowing that departments or divisions have different vaccine policy requirements for employees to attend work, will the Minister confirm for those that are not vaccinated what process is in place to accommodate them when they show up for work tomorrow, and will they be required to provide any documentation as do those that are vaccinated; and if they do not have documentation, then what? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the vaccination requirements are not different are, again, asked please, first of all, please go get your vaccine. It's your best way to protect yourself and to then provide that.
What does change department or division by division is in fact the specific guidelines around personal protective equipment. That's to accommodate the fact that certain different workplaces will have different levels of need or different levels of potential exposure to members of the public or to one another, you know, an office environment versus a frontline environment. But all of the departmental guidelines are available on the MyHR website. So if someone wants to go through, read them individually, they certainly can do that now. They are available on the website, and individual employees also, if they still have questions, should speak to their direct supervisors. Between the information on the HR website, between the information of their supervisors, employees should now be, I believe, quite clear on the level of personal protective equipment required for their workplace and testing will be coming shortly and that, again, same efforts, Mr. Speaker, to the MyHR website or to a supervisor. I've not had too many inquiries so I am hoping that, indeed, that information has rolled out successfully and there's no other paperwork that's required. Just to, you know, again, Number 1 is to go get your vaccine. If you are choosing not to do that, then to make sure you're clear with your supervisor what you need to do to keep yourself safe tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm concerned that some of the vaccinated employees may find that working with staff that are not vaccinated will deem the workplace to be an unsafe environment as set out in WSCC legislation.
Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what is the process that must be followed by those employees who feel unsafe when working alongside employees who are unvaccinated? What options or accommodations are open to them if they refuse to go to work? Has this been made clear to them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, the first point of contact for all employees is their direct supervisor. We've certainly have employees working with their supervisors throughout the pandemic to ensure that folks who may be immune compromised, for instance, can have access to to that to additional information so that their workplace remains a safe place for them. We've worked the Department of Finance has worked with the WSCC and Occupational Health and Safety. Again, throughout the pandemic, including on the current policy. Always, of course, is mindful not only of the provisions that I know the Member mentioned earlier, but other provisions in the work Workers Safety and Compensation Act. For instance, the ensuring of having an exposure control plan. So vaccines certainly as I think has been mentioned not only by this government, not only by our Chief public health officer, but across the country and the world, vaccines are your best form of protection, but they are not the only form of protection.
We really want to of course ensure that our workplaces are using every possible means of protection. So you have enhanced masking for those folks who are not providing proof of vaccine, still other masking orders still in place, other various exposure controls are in place. So we are trying to adapt the workplaces to a pandemic in the context of, of course, changing knowledge and information about that pandemic and as risks may continue to evolve and to vary, we are going to continue to do so. But if someone does have concerns, again, please have them speak to their supervisor so that their individual circumstances can be accommodated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to review the document titled Confirmation of Compliance with the GNWT COVID19 Vaccine Policy for Contractors, and discussed it with a number of contractors.
Mr. Speaker, would the Minister confirm how this information is being relayed to contractors and how or will it be monitored to ensure compliance? It appears to be a document based more on the honour system. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our approach in terms of dealing with contractors is quite similar to the federal model and they too are applying their own policies more expansively and to include contractors. The goal, again, is to ensure that all of the public that's being served on behalf of the GNWT has the benefits of this policy and the benefits that we believe it brings as far as providing all the different tools to prevent transmission and exposure to COVID19.
I suppose it's an honor system in the sense that we are requiring at this point contractors who have existing contracts to sign to say they are adhering to the policy. I suppose that's an honor system or, really, it's a system that says "you now need to adhere and you need to tell us you're going to do so."
Going forward, contract templates are being modified so that it will actually then be built into the contract itself, that they will comply with the policy. And certainly where there's concern that contractors not adhering to the policies, they are saying that they are or that they will be contracted to do, there certainly are tools that the GNWT can have to deal with that.
I'm hoping, Mr. Speaker, that we don't get to that. I'm hoping again that contractors are just as keen to ensure that they're using all the tools available to keep their employees safe as we are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
