Mr. Speaker, collective bargaining often ends up being a big fight. It pits employer against employee. It's seen as a zero-sum game where one side wins and one side loses. It's assumed that what the employer wants, in this case the GNWT, is to pay its staff as little as possible and get away with treating them badly. This assumption results in a very adversarial and confrontational process of collective bargaining. But what if we didn't assume that what the GNWT wants and what employees want is so different or so far apart? What if the GNWT and staff both have strong common interests, like effectively recruiting and retaining staff?
There's a different less adversarial model of collective bargaining called interest-based negotiation, and it's currently one of the key asks of the NWT Medical Association. The idea is to start bargaining discussions by finding all the areas of common ground and by focusing on the outcomes that everyone wants - ultimately a better health care system. Many doctors are not interested in simply getting paid more if it comes at the cost of patient safety or if it requires cutting corners in terms of quality of care.
The NWT Medical Association is also proposing that Indigenous leadership be included at the negotiation table with the physicians and the health authority, and that would be a first in Canada, in order to keep the focus on what kind of care NWT communities need and deserve. And this is coming from a group of essential workers who do not have the option of going on strike. Clearly, they see that their bargaining power comes from a focus on the public's best interest. I'm curious as to whether the Union of Northern Workers or the NWT Teachers' Association would similarly consider the interest-based negotiation model. This has already been used successfully to negotiate physician contracts in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia where it was reportedly a profoundly healing process leading to better collaboration between government and physicians overall.
The NWTNA believes that interest-based negotiation is the best way to keep patients at the heart of the process, find efficiencies, drive costs lower, and heal the relationship between physicians and the health authority. I call on the GNWT and the health authority to agree to meet physicians and Indigenous leaders at the table using this progressive approach in a spirit of reconciliation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.
