SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territorial government launched a new salary range disclosure webpage for public servants, although it falls short on the level of detail provided by provinces such as Alberta and Ontario and some Canadian cities.
Go here to view salary information
The GNWT launched the webpage on its Human Resources website Friday afternoon. It requires clicking on a department and then a specific job title to learn the range of pay a person holding that position may earn.
The idea is to increase the transparency of government spending, Human Resources Minister Robert C. McLeod said in an interview Friday prior to the public release of the webpage.
"I think it's a good first step," he said. "We pay a lot of money out in salaries to government employees so I think this is a good first step with what's available at our fingertips."
The GNWT public sector employed 5,223 people in December 2015 and planned to spend $369 million on pay and benefits this fiscal year.
In Ontario, an annual list of public servants paid more than $100,000 is released through a law passed two decades ago. Alberta's list includes severance payouts and in some cases PDFs of employment contracts. Halifax released its first sunshine list for municipal employees this year, providing exact figures with names of employees.
But don't expect that on the GNWT's website. The information is split up by departments and names with exact pay breakdowns aren't available.
However, matching titles from what is available with names in the government's contact directory could be used to get an idea of what an individual employee is actually making.
For example, the Department of Executive's director of cabinet communications, a post held by Shaun Dean, is listed as paying between $126,185 and $180,258 per year.
Jane Arychuk, president of Aurora College, can make between $155,552 and $222,222 annually, according to salary ranges provided for that position.
Further steps connecting the dots between names, job titles and precise pay are restricted by the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, McLeod said.
The webpage comes as the law that enshrines public access to government records while aiming to safe-guarding sensitive personal information, is under review by the government.
A recently completed public engagement for the review of the access to information law included a question about whether people support changes to enable greater salary disclosure.
A report released this month summarizing the input states there was "general support" from the 11 responses received from members of the public, media and civil organizations to disclosing actual salaries.
Information and Privacy Commissioner Elaine Keenan Bengts had recommended disclosing remuneration, including salary, bonuses and discretionary benefits as well as dollar amount of severance agreements.
On the other hand, a "majority" of the public bodies, such as government departments, health authorities and the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission that civil servants work for are reported to have opposed disclosure.
MLAs in the days before the announcement told Yellowknifer they'd support a greater amount of disclosure when it comes to public servant salaries.
"For me, it's not a point of contention," Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green said in an interview prior to the GNWT revealing the new webpage. "People who pay taxes have a right to know how their taxes are being spent."
In an interview last Wednesday, Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne said he'd support a greater level of disclosure of salary information than what had existed but didn't go as far as endorsing a system such as Ontario or Alberta's.
"We don't necessarily have to be naming names," he said.
Both MLAs pointed out their salaries and benefits are listed publicly on the legislative assembly's website.
The GNWT's move to ease access to the data, which includes unionized positions, comes during prolonged collective agreement negotiations with the Union of Northern Workers.
The UNW has called for three per cent increases to salaries each year for three years. The GNWT has said it can't afford any increase in the first two years but could offer one per cent in the third and fourth years of a new agreement.
No date has been set for the parties to resume talks.
