Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke in my Member’s statement about pay deductions to provide for an employee’s pay during Donny Days in December and on this government’s policy to keep Donny Days deductions when a position is terminated.

It seems patently unfair, Mr. Speaker, and I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance to explain to the House why the government keeps funds which rightly belong to the employee.

Thank you, Ms.

Bisaro. The

honourable

Minister responsible for Finance,

Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This area of mandatory leave without pay was an issue that was originally implemented in 1995–1996, I believe — within that year or the year after that — as a result of changes with the pay system.

The system that’s in place today was negotiated and put in place with the UNW. That’s why it exists today.

I

thank the Minister for the

explanation. I

mentioned in my statement that

I know this is a negotiated agreement, but it’s a negotiated agreement for the job position. If the job position ends and there is no employee who takes the job because there’s no job to go to, then the employee whose job has been terminated has been giving up deductions for leave days they won’t be able to take.

I’d like the Minister to explain. The job has been terminated; there is no further job; I am terminated in June. From June to the end of the year there is no job. There are no further pay deductions. Why must the government keep my Donny Days deductions?

Mr. Speaker, we would have to look at sitting down with the UNW. The language in the agreement speaks to no reimbursements in this category, and to date there have been none made. We would have to see if this would be one area for discussion. Of course, we know that when we open that door, there’s going to be a list of them coming forward. We also know that we will be sitting down with the union in the near future as well.

I thank the Minister for his willingness to meet with the union, because I’m sure the union is going to want to meet with the government to discuss this issue. A number of our employees are in this particular situation.

I’d like to know from the Minister what steps he is going to take or when he is going to take steps to meet with the union. I’ll leave it at that for now.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll work with the Minister responsible for Human Resources. Our primary contact through our contract process is through that department. I’ll sit down with the Minister and look at what options and timelines we can look at.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. Final

supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, and thanks to the Minister. I guess my last question would be on how he intends to communicate this to the union and/or to our employees.

Mr.

Speaker, first and

foremost, we need to sit down and look at what options are available, what our request would look like, how a discussion could be undertaken with the UNW, and what that might look toward. If it ends up becoming an actual negotiation, part of the negotiation process, that can take quite some time as well. We’d have to sit down together to go through that. I’ll have to have a discussion with our

Minister responsible for Human Resources to go through some of these details and timelines we would be having to look at.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr.

Bromley. The

honourable

Minister responsible for Finance,

Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The term “special dispensation” is one we don’t normally have a discussion on with the federal government.

This issue has been part of our process around devolution of resource revenue sharing. Previous governments have included that discussion. From the Northwest Territories’ point of view, it should be included as a royalty, but of course that’s in dispute with the federal government.

My latest discussions with the leaders in the territory as well as with the federal government have been to recognize that those resources and the equity payment they’re receiving are as a result of the development of the North, and those should flow back to the North through infrastructure or another arrangement. So those areas are being looked at. It has always been on the table to try to get equal dollar value out of that to stay in the North.

Thanks for those comments from the Minister. What caught my ear was that these have always been part of the discussions. Obviously, you know, we could wait till the cows come home until we get some response from the federal government here. It’s a very difficult situation, I’m the first to admit.

By “special dispensation” I’m saying these are windfall profits that are accruing right now. One comment, Mr. Speaker: the federal government is pursuing the oil companies, because of their

windfall profits, to try and recover some of those. This is the perfect opportunity.

Will the Minister really go after a special dispensation from the federal government, using their own reasoning, to recover some of these windfall profits, these gross amounts of money from our resources, and put them to special issues such as cost of living and climate change that are also national issues? It would help address national and territorial as well as local issues.

Mr. Speaker, for us as the Government of the Northwest Territories to in fact gain those resources so we can direct them to initiatives in the Northwest Territories would be indeed, I would consider, a great day for the Northwest Territories. We have to come up with an arrangement on a common approach as we’re sitting down and discussing with regional aboriginal leadership. Those dollars that come out of the Norman Wells find have been part of those discussions.

Now, not every group agrees we should be going down and getting those. They see that as their area of negotiation. We do need to come together as the Government of the Northwest Territories and leaders in the Northwest Territories and finally just decide we need to get a move on this. As I said about our financial situation, here’s an opportunity to help us reinvest in the North in critical areas. It is something we are pursuing and will continue to pursue: the equal value that is coming out of the Norman Wells area.

I caught the word “short” there. I just want to emphasize that we could very well have some federal partners here. I don’t think we should be waiting. I’m not saying we should be giving up on the larger issues that we’re pursuing in concert with our partner governments, aboriginal governments and so on. But on this issue I think the Northwest Territories should go after a special dispensation in the short term to take advantage of these windfall profits. Will the Minister commit to do that?

Mr. Speaker, we’re always looking at options and angles to approach the federal government in getting more revenues to the Northwest Territories. This will be one of those. It is a complex matter just with the issues we have to deal with in the North as well. It is something we always consider: options we can go forward on and looking for different avenues for reinvestment in the North. I will commit to that. I’ll raise this issue and continue to raise this issue, but it is in a complex environment, I must let Members know.

Thank you, Mr.

Roland. The

honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I have questions on dental surgery services for residents of Fort Resolution. I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services about those services. Can the Minister tell me when and why the dental surgery unit in Hay River Hospital has closed?

Thank you, Mr.

Beaulieu. The

honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no such thing as a dental surgery unit in any hospital in the Territories, but it is true that dental surgery services have been discontinued, and they’re not being offered in any other health service facilities in the Territories, including Hay River as of March of this year.

I’m not sure why that happened, but could the Minister tell me what the options for the people in Fort Resolution are now for that service?

Mr. Speaker, the reason was that dental surgery is not an insured service under the NWT health care benefits program. It is a non-insured service, and for those who have third-party insurance, part of it is covered under that. The federal government is responsible for those residents of the Territories who are eligible for NIHB.

Mr. Speaker, the option, then, for the residents of Fort Resolution is to work with the health care professional in their community. If they are eligible for NIHB or other insurance programs, they’re eligible to have the surgery in a private care facility we have an arrangement with south of 60.