Bob Bromley

Thanks for that response from the Minister. That is this year. So we expect to see that in the next few months. Good to hear.

As I said, also I’m confused by the apparent contradiction between the increasing fines and penalties that we’re experiencing as an employer and increasingly good survey scores on return-to-work practices and safety. Can the Minister explain how our scores could be improving at the same time our penalties and claims costs are actually mounting into the millions of dollars?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also recognize a couple of constituents from Weledeh, and we have Ben Nind, who was the inductee for the Minister’s Cultural Circle this morning in the individual category. Congratulations to Ben. I’d also like to recognize Chief Edward Sangris of Dettah, and drummer extraordinaire. I heard him performing this morning. Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, I would like to withdraw that comment. At the same time, I would like to note that it is my right to do general comments. I was cut off after three minutes on the clock.

Excuse me, Mr. Chair. I’d like an answer to that question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, August 24, 2011, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the Government of the Northwest Territories begin research to examine options and potential benefits for introduction of a mental health court diversion program as an adjunct to the new court system;

And further, that this government make note of this initiative as a recommendation included in the transition advice being offered to the 17th Legislative Assembly. Mahsi.

I appreciate the response. It sounds pretty confusing still to me, so I’m going to study up a little bit on this. I appreciate those comments.

For some reason the WSCC has stopped publishing the accident frequency rates that tell us how different types of workplaces compare in terms of accidents, lost time, et cetera. Can the Minister of Human Resources tell me how the GNWT workplace accident and safety statistics compare to other major employers? Are we the best? The worst? What are the facts here?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my statement earlier today, I’d like to ask questions of the Minister of Human Resources. I’d like to start by noting that the GNWT is one of the territory’s biggest employers. The human, financial, and even governance costs of poor health and safety practices can be very significant.

The Minister’s response to my written inquiry said that GNWT is taking steps to create the health and safety committee structures required by law by the end of this fiscal year. Can the Minister tell me why these committees are not already in place three years after the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m alarmed to hear about the apparently huge issue of health and safety performance in the GNWT workplace. Information received from the Minister of Human Resources describes GNWT performance under the Safe Advantage program created by the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission in 2007. It says that employers with proven safety and return-to-work practices receive a refund and employers with poor safety and return-to-work practices pay a penalty.

Since the program was created in 2007, the GNWT has never received a good performance refund. In fact, over the past...

I appreciate the Minister saying much more eloquently than I can why we need to do this public consultation of the land and resource management regime as this Minister has had the foresight to do on the issue of water. I think he’s eloquently made my point. Thank you.

I have indeed brought this up a number of times. The Minister and Premier had indicated he would respond, and then retracted that. I would say I will not be able to support this unless that’s there. The Premier insists on putting the cart before the horse and calling it otherwise. We cannot negotiate for what we want unless we know what we want. The public needs to be a participant in defining what we’re negotiating for. I obviously feel very strongly about this, as do others. We need to have public participation, and again we have a record of going behind the scenes and refusing public...