Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Human Resources and are related to the Arctic Winter Games and the volunteers, G.N.W.T. staff in particular.
The question is very specific to a two-hour block — two hours maximum per day — where individuals would be allowed to volunteer without penalty against their lieu time or annual leave. So where operational requirements permit and where a G.N.W.T. staff is registered as a volunteer and is either scheduled from a 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. shift or a 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. shift, the government has said no. Basically, if you need that two hours at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day, you have to use lieu or annual.
It seems a bit short-sighted to me. It seems like we actually are creating a lot more work through entry
into PeopleSoft — through entry or verification and approval in PeopleSoft. It would be better if the people who met those conditions, if we were just to say, “Yeah, you can take that time where operational requirements permit.” Unfortunately the answer was no.
Is there any way I can get the Minister to review and reverse that decision in order to reduce the paperwork, support our staff and support the Arctic Winter Games?