Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was getting phone calls, text messages, yesterday from people in the South Slave, more particularly in -- both in Hay River and Fort Smith, regarding the layoff notice the given to the Fort Smith correctional centre staff. And if I remember correctly, 32 employees work there. The finance Minister did say during Committee of the Whole back in June that they were pausing it with an uncosted plan, unplanned, but they were going to propose something, Mr. Speaker. I e-mailed the Premier last night for an update. I am going to ask the finance Minister, could she explain the initiative -- or sorry, the steps they're taking with respect to these layoff notices to these 32 people in Fort Smith. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say at this point staff are not being given layoff notices, but we are trying to take a much more proactive approach here. As such, there was an informal initial meeting held in October 25th with some senior members from the Department of Justice, Department of Finance, human resources, in order to start to communicate to staff so that when the time, it does come, that the funding here is for one year, and so if the time is coming up, rather than waiting until formal notices are provided that staff actually have information in advance, they could have choices, they could ask questions in advance, and that way when the clock does start to tick on getting a formal notice, people have the opportunity to make choices well in advance and with lots of time ahead of them. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, my question really isn't being answered in the sense of was this just a friendly conversation that we don't know what we're doing, or what type of notice was specifically given to these 32 employees? What I'm hearing are concern that they were giving specific job action notice. In other words, your job's ending and here's your notice. Maybe the Minister could be very clear on the record to say -- to explain what exactly was told to the employees with respect to their employment. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wasn't present at the meeting so I'm not going to try to quote anyone that was present. Mr. Speaker, whenever there is a situation where individuals or staff are facing a change in their status, we have what are called the staff retention policy guidelines. We have staff retention policy, and we always make every effort to ensure that any employee who is facing a change in their status of employment has that full benefit.
What happens is that under the staff retention policy, a staff member would get a 21-week notice period. That clock starts to run when someone gets their notice. They were not given their notice. Rather -- rather than waiting until someone gets their notice, senior members went and met with individuals ahead of the time when that notice would have to be given so that when they get their notice, they are actually able to make choices about what types of route they may want to take in order to enact under the staff retention policy.
Some individuals are eligible for retirement. Some individuals may be interested in a transfer. But, again, waiting until that clock starts to tick when you get your notice is not the way we're going here. We want to empower our staff and make sure they have all their options available to them. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, so in other words, is the government planning to lay these employees off noting that the official paperwork of layoff notices isn't given but this 21-week articulation of be aware of, well just be aware, and we don't know yet. So I need to understand, was it just a shout out over their bow to say we're not laying you off today but we don't have a plan, which means there may not be a job for you? Thank you.
Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Finance Minister has answered the question twice now. So the Member can check Hansard once this is over. Thank you.
Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Mr. Speaker, I think I'm having a difficult time, and I'm sure this will be a personal joke back or a shot or whatever, but I'm having a difficult time understanding this little dance between what a real layoff notice is. Can you imagine the employees, the 32 employees there, hearing this message. 21 weeks is 150 -- or sorry, 40 -- 147 days. It's 153 days. In other words, six days difference between the end of March 31st. So those who follow the math quickly, is it's almost 21 weeks until the end of the budget year. Mr. Speaker, my question specifically to the Minister is can she make it absolutely crystal clear what the plan is in that facility. Because we left here in June that they would find a plan and support for those employees. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Instead of just receiving a notice in the mail, staff went there to personally speak with employees, to let them know what the options are going forward, because there is no more funding for that facility at the end of this fiscal year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Colleagues, our time is up for oral questions.
Recognizing the time, we've been here for a while, we're going to take a break so the -- our translators can rest, take a break as well. Thank you.
