Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe I was the Minister at the time and I am not trying to fluff off that it was under previous governments. So I will take that question as notice because I am not aware of the details of that. I was not in the government at the time and will report back to my honourable colleague. Thank you.

Question is taken as notice. Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is to the Minister of Finance and is also on the question of collective bargaining and pay equity. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity, as all Members did, to have some conversations with some of our employees at the front of the Legislative Assembly Building today. I would like to suggest that was a peaceable and democratic demonstration of people's rights and to get their message across. I suggest it was very peaceable and I think there was only one individual who was a little boisterous and I would point out, Mr. Speaker, that individual was not an employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories and I, certainly for one, expect more of the employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories. My question to the Minister is, what message did he get from that meeting that was outside the Legislative Assembly Building today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Todd.

First of all, I thought maybe the boisterous person he was talking about was myself...

--Laughter

...but the message I received was that people are not particularly pleased with the events that are unfolding. I respect the fact that the UNW and people who are not happy with government policy, decisions we make, have a right to lobby out there and I respect that and I hope that they will respect that I have an obligation and responsibility to the territories as a whole and I am trying to find, I thought through negotiations, a reasonable compromise that we can all live with. I guess the message from that group was that we are not happy and we want you to fix it. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister responsible for FMBS very well described the global feeling and that was an answer I expected from him. I think there was an

issue there, a strong issue, and it has been mentioned before by some of my colleagues, that there was a strong message out there today that the UNW wished to have the issue of pay equity separated from the contract negotiations. My question to the Minister is, will the Minister commit to getting back with the UNW at the table? I am not asking the Minister to remove it at this time from the table. I am not asking him to separate it. I am asking for the Minister's commitment on behalf of his government to commit to putting his side back to the table to discuss it. As long as people are not talking, they cannot resolve problems. My question is, will the Minister commit to putting his representatives back to the table to discuss with the UNW, nothing in particular, but at least to get back to the table? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I tried to demonstrate today that I was prepared to listen, as I have been ever since I got elected. If the UNW wishes to come back to the table to discuss the final offer, the door is open, not closed. I am willing to say that today we are prepared to come to the table, but we have placed the final offer, I have to qualify it, on the table. I would say to my honourable colleague that the door is not closed, but there is very little room at this time to manoeuvre in terms as where we are with the final agreement. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. What I am after is just to get people back talking. They can decide what they are going to talk about when they get there. The Minister has also, and I will respect your ruling, Mr. Speaker, on the cases that are before the court...the Minister, Mr. Todd, in his Minister's statement today did mention, and I quote, "In light of the decision, the GNWT is in the process of amending its present federal court application to ask to have the complaint filed against the GNWT dismissed or alternatively to have the UNW held jointly responsible for any award made by the Human Rights Tribunal." My question to the Minister is, will the Minister commit at least until after the initial meeting to put that process of amending on hold until he has at least had one opportunity to sit down with the UNW to see where talks may go? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

I do not think it would be appropriate for me to do that at this time. I want to remind everybody that I am advised that if we sign a collective agreement knowing that there is now a pay equity problem, then we leave ourselves vulnerable to a suit by the UNW. We need to come to a resolution on the pay equity situation, along with the collective agreement, that is fair and equitable to our employees. I believe we have done that. I have already said it and there may be the odd glitch within the job evaluation system. When you deal with 5,000 employees and 5,000 re-evaluations of jobs there is going to be some growing pains in this issue. I do not think it is appropriate that we delay this. I think we need to proceed. We need to get the message across that we are trying, that this is a fair and reasonable offer. If we are going to go back to the bargaining table, I have no problem with that. If we are going to go to arbitration or mediator, I have no problem with that. Ultimately what I really want is the ability for the UNW/GNWT to come to an agreement. If they cannot, put it out to the membership to allow them to vote on it. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Minister of Finance again in a gesture of conciliation if he would, and I quote, "put on hold the process of amending it." I am not asking him to wipe it off and not proceed with it at a later date if he chooses, but to just put it on hold until he has an opportunity to sit down with the UNW to see where this discussion may go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Todd.

Well, my honourable colleague is making an assumption that the UNW wants to come back to the table. I do not know that right now. Both parties have come to an impasse, unfortunately. The UNW has gone from the table. We are away from the table. I have offered up today, publicly, that we are prepared to go back to the table. I do not know what the other parties will say though. It would be inappropriate of me to make any kind of comment as to what direction we would take on that until I know whether the UNW is prepared to come to the table. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister responsible for Nunavut Transition, Mr. Arlooktoo. It is regarding the decentralized model as it relates to Footprints 2. Mr. Speaker, a number of my constituents are concerned and some are confused about the jobs that have been earmarked for my communities of Arviat and Baker Lake. There have been recent rumours and speculation that the model has been somewhat changed. My question to the Minister is, has the GNWT agreed to any modifications, deviations that relate to the decentralized model? Thank you.

The Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo.