Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to a matter that is very concerning to the Members of this House and the citizens of the Northwest Territories, and that is the potential for a strike that will be taken by the Union of Northern Workers, following the reported failure of mediation between the UNW and the GNWT's negotiators. We, as a territory, have more than enough divisive strike actions in our history that Northerners know they don't want another one.
Mr. Speaker, 4,000 employees of the territorial public service have been without contract for two and a half years, easily the longest period that negotiations have endured in this territory. Added to this the looming strike of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, without contract now for three and a half years, and it becomes clear that there are significant shortcomings in how labour negotiations have been managed to resolve these issues to ensure a fair deal for workers and for all of our residents who depend on government services and continued investment of government resources in our communities.
Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware, the economy of the NWT depends on the continued productivity and earning power of its workforce. The employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories are our friends and neighbours, the customers of our local businesses, and the patrons of our arts and crafts, just like those employed in the private sector.
Mr. Speaker, the government's employees pay their mortgages for their homes in the North, buy their groceries, clothes, and tools at local stores, and all of that comes from the wages they earn. Mr. Speaker, it doesn't take an economics degree to understand the crippling blow that casting these employees out of the workforce will have on the economy of our territory or the negative effect that it will have on local businesses.
Mr. Speaker, before running for office, I was a public servant struggling to make ends meet as a single father. Much of my salary went to rent and groceries, and at the end of the day, there was little left in the way of savings or funds to invest in my son's future. There are employees who had it better than I did, and there are employees who had it worse. None of them will come out of any strike action better off.
Mr. Speaker, given the fragile state of the northern economy, it is not the time for any member of the workforce, particularly more than 4,000 of them, to be on a picket line when a strike could have been avoided through timely and reasonable negotiation in good faith.
Mr. Speaker, an effective and engaged public service is a goal we should all share, and we must, at all costs, avoid a crippling strike to our economy. We cannot allow these negotiations to fail, and we must work with all sides to come to a resolution, get bargaining back on track, and get a fair deal for workers and all of our residents that depend on their continued public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.