Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today about the successful negotiation of three new agreements with the bargaining units that represent our employees.

A contract has been negotiated and ratified with the Northwest Territories Medical Association, and collective agreements have been negotiated and ratified with the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association. They are all four-year agreements, which provide our employees with predictable, stable terms of employment in a volatile economic environment. Four-year agreements also provide the GNWT with the stability we need to address the large priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly, including

devolution and a sustainable health care system. The increases provided to employees are very reasonable, given our fiscal position and the global financial situation. In fact, when comparing our settlements to those in other public governments across the country, I would venture to say that we are providing an excellent package.

The GNWT values its employees. We treated them fairly and respectfully throughout the collective bargaining process. I want to thank our partners – the NWT Medical Association, the NWT Teachers’ Association and the Union of Northern Workers – for coming to the table as partners with shared interests, wanting to find workable solutions to the challenges we all faced. I would also like to thank all the staff involved – within both the GNWT and

the bargaining units – in negotiating, researching, analyzing and proposing creative solutions during negotiations.

While there are a range of accomplishments in all of the new agreements, I would like to highlight two memoranda of understanding that were negotiated with the Union of Northern Workers, given the profile that these issues warranted over the past six months.

The first MOU involves the safe disclosure of information by public servants. Both parties want to create an environment where employees who, in good faith, believe a wrongdoing has occurred, can bring that forward freely, confidentially and safely. Employees should never have to fear reprisal when they come forward to raise concerns about potential wrongdoing.

Through this MOU, we have agreed to jointly develop interim provisions that provide protection for employees who disclose information in certain situations. These will include an independent mechanism for reporting situations where the employee, in good faith, believes wrongdoing is occurring. They will remain in place until legislation providing protection for employees who disclose information is enacted by this Assembly.

The second MOU addresses rest periods, which represent an important safety issue. There are circumstances where the lack of adequate rest between scheduled hours of work may present health and safety concerns in some work environments. The Government of the Northwest Territories and the Union of Northern Workers will establish a joint working group to review all relevant issues related to employee rest periods, to test implementation and to provide unanimous recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very pleased to have negotiated these agreements with our partners who represent our employees. We appreciate the valuable work carried out by GNWT employees. Despite challenging economic times, we wanted to provide terms of employment, including salary increases, that recognize this. We are now working to implement the collective agreements, and to continue to work collaboratively with the bargaining units in partnership during the life of these new agreements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.