Thank you. Mr. Miltenberger is seeking unanimous consent to waive Rule 70(5). Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent. Bill 2 is moved into Committee of the Whole. Item 12, reports of committees on the review of bills. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As required by section 32.1(2) of the Financial Administration Act, I am tabling the following document. Tabled Document 10-13(2) is a list of all interactivity transfers exceeding $250,000 within the departments for the period of December 9, 1995 to February 12, 1996. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table Tabled Document 11-13(2), Minister of Transportation'sRreport to the Legislative Assembly for 1995, Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1990. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table Tabled Document 12-13(2) which is 20 letters from residents of Yellowknife which indicate that they prefer arbitration over striking.

Thank you. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table Tabled Document 13-13(2) which is 14 motions passed by the Baffin Leaders' Summit at their meeting in lqaluit on January 12th and 13, 1996. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Ootes.

item 13, tabling of documents. Mr. Clerk.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to 183(4) of the Elections Act, I wish to table Tabled Document 15-13(2), candidates' election returns and declaration of election contributions and expenses for the following candidates: Marion T. Love; Manitok Thompson;

Mark Evaloarjuk; Paul Haulli; Jaypeetee Akpalialuk; Tommy Enuaraq; Jaypeetee Karpik; Lootie Toomasie; Goo Arlooktoo; Joachim Bonnetrouge; Sam Gargan; Richard C. Lafferty; Ron Courtoreille; Mansell C. Grey; Jane Groenewegen; George B. Morin; Elizabeth Allakariallak-Roberts; Levi Barnabas; Aziz Kheraj; Fred E. Koe; Floyd K. Roland; Gordon Mcintosh; Edward Picco; Mary Ekho Wilman; John Todd; Ernest N. Bernhardt; Kelvin Ng; David Aglukark; Sam Alagalak; Silas Arngna'naaq; Kevin J. O'Brien; David Simailak; Joy Suluk; David Krutko; Richard Nerysoo; Jim Antoine; John Ningark; Uriash Puqiqnak: Leon Lafferty; Richard Lafferty: James Rabesca; Henry Zoe; Joseph Zoe; Gabrielle Mackenzie-Scott; Eddie T. Dillon; Vince Steen; Stephen Kakfwi; Allan Heron; Sean Mageean; K.A. Jeannie Marie-Jewell; J. Michael Miltenberger; Larry Bearard; Archie Catholique; Don Morin; Gary J. Boyd; Marie Coe; Roland Gosselin; Arlene Hache; Jake Ootes; Dave Ramsay; Don Yamkowy; Charles Dent; David McCann; Tom Pagonis; Rob Roman; Roy Erasmus; Jim Evoy; Donna Hunt; Wally Larocque; Louis Leonardis; Clem Paul; Kirby Marshall; Seamus Henry; and, Tony Whitford.

Thank you. Item 13, tabling of documents. Item 14, notices of motion. Item 15, notices of motions for first reading of bills. Item 16, motions. Item 17, first reading of bills. Item 18, second reading of bills. Item 19, consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters: Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, with Mr. Ningark in the chair.

Thank you. I'd like to call the Committee of the Whole back to order. We are dealing with Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. The Minister responsible for this act, Mr. Todd, do you have any opening remarks?

Minister's Introductory Remarks

I do, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, over the past several days, a number of concerns have been expressed to the Members of the Assembly on some aspects of this bill. I can understand the concerns that have been raised and the emotion of the debate around the bill. These issues have been raised to me by my constituents in a petition that I tabled earlier today. Mr. Chairman, I''d like to take this opportunity to clarity the purpose of the bill and perhaps clear up some of the misinformation surrounding certain aspects of it.

One of the concerns raised is that this bill is being fast-tracked through the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Chairman, this government is entering into negotiations on a collective agreement with the union that represents our employees. This bill sets a clear framework to support the negotiating process as it places full responsibility for collective bargaining with the parties. The importance of having this framework in place at the beginning of negotiations cannot be overstated. Negotiations are expected to be difficult.

As both the Premier and I have stated on several occasions, the government is facing a $150 million deficit in 1996-97 if no action is taken to bring expenditures in line with revenues

Mr. Chairman, it's been suggested over the past several days that the government is planning to deal with our budget reductions solely on the backs of our employees. This is simply not the case. All expenditures must and will be considered to meet our budget reduction targets. Wage and benefit reductions are only one area being considered. We're also reviewing all of our capital and program expenditures.

It's also important to note, Mr. Chairman, that any reductions in wages and benefits packages will affect all employee groups alike. This means that both unionized and non-unionized employees, our management employees, and, yes, Mr. Chairman, Members of this Legislative Assembly. I also would like to stress that the budget reductions will affect all other people in the Northwest Territories who depend on government programs. It will affect social program clients, it will affect businesses, it will affect students, and it will affect those who are not fortunate enough to have jobs. It is the responsibility of the Members of the Assembly to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably, including our employees.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to address some of the specific aspects of the bill. One, the ability to change terms and conditions of employment and the right to strike, It is standard for the employer to have the ability to change terms and conditions of employment and employees to have the right to strike if reasonable efforts at negotiations do not result in a new collective agreement. The Canadian Labour Code, has such provisions. Also, other unionized employers and employees in the NWT fall under the Canadian Labour Code.

The time lines for negotiation: The bill provides as much time as the parties require for negotiation. It also sets out a process similar to legislation elsewhere such as the Canadian Labour Code to ensure that reasonable effort is made to negotiate collective agreements. This includes the assistance of a mediator who is skilled in helping the parties with collective bargaining difficulties. Only after negotiations have broken down, mediation has failed, and the collective agreement has expired can the employer change the terms and conditions of employment and employees take strike action. The time lines following the mediator's report is intended to provide a cooling off period, Mr. Chairman.

The bargaining unit definition on exclusions, which is a big issue: It's important that the bargaining units be clearly defined to avoid conflicts and misunderstanding about who has a right to strike. Bargaining unit exclusions are employees who perform management duties for the employer and who support, Assist, and advise the government on the legislative, executive, and management functions. Under binding arbitration it was not as critical as under the right to strike to clearly identify appropriate exclusions for these functions. agreement with the union that represents our employees. This Change to the exclusions: This bill would increase the number of exclusions by approximately six per cent --and I stress, six per cent. Mr. Chairman, the Union of Northern Workers has raised a number of concerns on this issue and have publicly stated that this bill could exclude up to 35 per cent of employees from the bargaining units. We have met with representatives of the UNW to address their concerns and tried to incorporate significant changes to the wording of the bill to alleviate some of these concerns. While I recognize that we have not gone as far as the UNW wanted, I believe we have moved a significant amount to address the concern raised.

Further, Mr. Chairman, I will make a public commitment today to table in the House at our next sitting in March, a listing of the exclusions that will be made subject to the passage of this bill. I am confident that the number of exclusions will be within the additional six per cent that I have mentioned earlier.

Essential and emergency services: Some employees perform duties that are essential to the prevention of danger to life and destruction of equipment. These employees may be members of the bargaining unit but may not participate in a strike. They will not be required to perform management functions; mainly to provide the services that are designated as essential. The objective will be to designate only those positions that are truly essential or perform emergency services and where possible, employees who are excluded from a bargaining unit will perform essential emergency services. The bill sets out a process for the parties to decide who performs essential and emergency services and includes arbitration to resolve disagreements.

Mr. Chairman, it is critically important to emphasize that these amendments set the stage for the parties to achieve reasonable negotiated agreements. It's our commitment to negotiate, not legislate, a collective agreement that drives this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. The chairman of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, Mr. Erasmus.

Standing Committee On Government Operations Comments

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Government Operations met on February 19th and 20th to review Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. Witnesses appearing before the committee included the chairman of the Financial Management Board, the Honourable John Todd; the president of the Union of Northern Workers, Mr. Darm Crook; and the president and executive director of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association, Mr. Jim Gilbert and Mr. Blake Lyons, respectively.

The witnesses representing the UNW and the NWTTA raised some concerns before the committee regarding some provisions of the bill. This bill will fundamentally alter the negotiating framework between the government and its organized employees. As a result, the committee took the concerns raised by the union representatives very seriously. After hearing those concerns and discussing them with the Minister, amendments to the bill were prepared and will be the subject of motions here in the Assembly today.

The standing committee concluded its meetings by moving to refer the bill back to Committee of the Whole for consideration by all Members of the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. Before I allow the general comments on Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, I would like to ask the honourable Minister if he would like to bring in his witnesses. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I would. Thank you.

Does the committee agree that Mr. Minister will bring in the witnesses?

Agreed.

---Agreed

Agreed. Proceed. Mr. Minister, for the record, would you please introduce the witnesses.