I look forward to the information from the Minister. Does our government fund activities or have any resources that can assist with MADD Canada or its student counterpart, SADD Canada, or any of our groups here in the Northwest Territories?

Again, I don’t believe that the department does provide monetary support to the Students Against Drunk Driving or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. These organizations are funded by the general population through donations, but I could look into the situation and see what type of other supports the department can and does provide to both Mothers Against Drunk

Driving and Students Against Drunk Driving. Thank you.

Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I certainly look forward to that research that the Minister wants to do and see what other resources are there that can assist these organizations.

I’d just like to know if the convictions for drinking and driving have increased. I think it was during the last review, I’d like to ask the Minister, has it increased? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, certainly as time goes, the severity of punishment for impaired driving has continued to increase. Impaired driving is certainly something that’s not viewed like it used to be in years past. It’s considered to be a very serious offence and is treated as such. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Human Resources. I want to follow up my statement and talk a bit about bullying in the workplace.

Certainly over the last year to two years there’s been some excellent work done on behalf of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and they’ve been targeting young people. But bullying, as I said, transcends age and gender and it applies to society as a whole, but it also particularly applies in workplaces.

So in terms of the GNWT workplace, I’d like to ask the Minister of Human Resources whether or not there is anything that is being done within the GNWT to raise the profile of workplace bullying. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT across the board does have policies in the workplace against bullying, but I don’t have the information on the specific programs that are run, but there are programs that the GNWT looks at to prevent bullying in the workplace. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. I’ve done some looking into what exists within the GNWT. I certainly didn’t find very much. I did find, as I mentioned, the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy, I think is the title, and I think there’s an MOU, perhaps, with one or the other of our unions. As far as I know, there is nothing in any of our legislation and nothing in any of our policies

which specifically says bullying. Harassment, yes, but not bullying.

So, I’d like to know if harassment is referenced, what is there within either the Department of Human Resources or within the government that assists workers if they have been bullied or they see bullying and they wish to report it, what system exists for them to do that? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT strives to have a respectful workplace. The labour relations is a course that is a requirement for all managers in the GNWT and there are some more courses and programs that are going to be a requirement for managers in the GNWT that will address this particular issue. The individuals that feel that they’re being bullied have options to go to their managers if they think that their managers are the ones providing or distributing the bullying or they have the option to go to the next level. They have the option to go to union if they happen to be unionized. They can go to their Employee and Family Assistance Program as a place to start if they feel that harassment and bullying is something they are enduring in the workplace. Thank you.

I hear what the Minister is saying, but I don’t hear that we have addressed the word “bullying” in anything that we do. That’s where I’m trying to go. Harassment is not the same as bullying. Yes, it is similar, but I couldn’t find anything in any literature on the GNWT website which talks specifically to bullying and I think we need to go there.

The Minister mentioned earlier that there are some programs that people can access. He mentioned that people can go to their supervisor and work themselves on up the line, but I’d like to know from the Minister if he could tell me, please, what those programs are that he referenced and if he could tell me where I can find the chain of command that he referenced. Where can I find a policy that tells me, if I have been bullied, where I can go? Thank you.

As the Member indicated, the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy would be a good place to start. Also, I referred to some of the labour relations training that would be a requirement for managers. Once those requirements are set down for various managers in the GNWT, that will educate the managers in this area. That is another place where we can see some results for perhaps bullying and harassment together. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m not sure I really understood what the Minister was saying. I believe we need to address bullying in our workplace and we need to use that word. I don’t think I heard any commitment from the Minister to

try to go there. I also didn’t hear from the Minister that we have concrete plans in place.

I would like to know from the Minister if he would commit to reviewing what policies we do have, the Harassment Free Policy, if he would commit to finding out what MOUs exist and if he would look at our legislation. I think the only legislation that applies is the Occupational Health Act or Occupational Safety Act. I can’t remember the name of it. Would he commit to looking at those and specifically address them and make changes addressing the word “bullying”? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it’s occupational health and safety training that’s performed by GNWT, labour relations. Of course, I do recognize that there is some bullying that occurs in the GNWT workplace as well. I don’t think it’s frequent, but it is there. I will be prepared to talk to the department and look at specifically trying to incorporate bullying into some of our work that we’re doing to try to make the GNWT a more respectful workplace. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Member should elevate his thinking to where we are presently. We are taking over devolution and we will be taking a Government of the Northwest Territories approach. The Department of Lands will be the lead department in dealing with environmental assessments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to publicly commit to elevating my thinking. Boards are different from departments. Boards make decisions based on evidence that is presented to them. Departments make decisions based on politics. How can we be sure that decisions made by the new regulator will be based on evidence and not based on politics when they are made behind closed doors of the Executive? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There will be three departments that will be involved with the regulatory process. I will emphasize again, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, the boards there will continue to be in existence and they will be making recommendations to the different Ministers responsible. We will have three different departments involved with three responsible Ministers. In our view, having people of the Northwest Territories make the decisions that were formally done in Ottawa, it’s much better and it’s in all of our interests of people of the Northwest Territories to be responsible for decisions that will affect them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are not like Manitoba or Saskatchewan. We have a duty to consult with our Aboriginal partners on every project proposed in the NWT. I would say, in fact, we have a duty to consult with all members of NWT society. An NWT energy board would make that process of consultation clear and transparent.

Why has this government chosen to switch from a public board model to a model that has no possibility for public participation in the decision-making process? Mahsi.

Our territory probably takes most seriously its duty to consult. We consult and we consult and we consult. We will continue to do so. The Member is making assumptions. We will be coordinated and we will consult and listen to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.