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Wednesday, March 11, 1998 A promise worth keeping
No more layoffs. How sweet is the sound of those words.
Acknowledging that the last couple of years have been hard on employees of GNWT, Premier Don Morin has promised stability for the diminishing ranks of the once-bloated bureaucracy.
In the interests of staff morale, Morin has made this commitment. It is both appropriate and welcome that the premier recognize the toll brought by the uncertainty of the last couple of years.
However, on the human resources side of the ledger, there are a couple of looming unknowns, most obviously division. The premier has said there will be no more layoffs regardless of division. It is a promise that shows more political will than fiscal foresight. Who knows what is still to shake out over the division of the territories?
And then there pay equity, a multi-million-dollar problem dangling over the head of the GNWT that needs to be settled, and settled now.
Territorial Minister of Finance John Todd has put forward a $40-million proposal that includes a $36-million offer to resolve the pay-equity issue and a $6-million pay raise for government workers.
Predictably, the Union of Northern Workers greeted Todd's announcement with a combination of skepticism and disdain. Todd's proposal, by his own admission, will demand a good degree of creative thinking on the part of the government to find the money without cutting jobs. One wonders what will be left of already-pared services if another $40 million is taken out of the mix.
It is also quite likely, given the union's success before the courts that the pay-equity settlement could be driven up to $100 million. That means the future stability of the territorial government workforce rests as much with the UNW as it does with the political leadership.
The end result could be that, as much as Morin and his cabinet do to keep their promise of workforce stability, it may be the workers themselves who make them break it.
When it comes to the art of running a country, it only makes sense to let the central authority, in our case Ottawa, run things. Managing the labor force probably isn't one of them.
So last week's signing of a labor market development agreement handing over authority to the territorial government makes a lot of sense. The Northern economy has little in common with Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or even Edmonton. A made-at-home employment policy can only benefit the NWT's workforce.
It's too bad 10 other jurisdictions got around to it before we did. But at least we're ahead of Ontario.
Concerns raised during the recent information session on gun safety prove the message has yet to sink in.
Some gun owners admitted during the session that they were unsure of what current regulations permitted. Many rules relating to safety, permits and registration will change this October when new legislation, the Firearms Act, comes into effect. But whatever the rules, whatever the regulations, the need for basic common sense remains.
We shouldn't need laws to convince gun owners to lock their weapons in a case, keep their firearms unloaded when not in use and ensure they are out of reach of their children. Legislation is no substitute for common sense.
Editorial comment
Premier Don Morin's statement about residential schools and the GNWT's role in the healing process last week is the first step the GNWT has taken to provide assistance for the former students who suffered physical and sexual abuse. But what does the statement mean for the GNWT's role in the healing process?
The GNWT's words are a faint reminder of those of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Jane Stewart, who announced the federal government's reaction earlier this year to the recommendations of the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Her statement of reconciliation was a move to improve Canada's relationship with its aboriginal peoples and it was coupled with the announcement of a $350-million healing fund that will be used to assist victims.
The GNWT announcement last Thursday didn't, however, outline what the territorial government's role would be in the healing process. How, for example, will the GNWT be involved in the necessary actions that need to be taken for those who were abused at the residential school in Chesterfield Inlet?
Morin, along with Education Minister Charles Dent and Health and Social Services Minister Kelvin Ng, expressed words of regret for the abuse that happened in several Northern residential schools. Well, that goes without saying doesn't it?
To date, there's been an apology by Catholic Bishop Rouleau in 1996 and the statement of reconciliation by Stewart, and now the GNWT's expression of regret. How many apologies will be made before something is actually done to improve the lives of those who have been affected by the atrocity that occurred at the residential schools? What people really need is money for healing, not more words.
"What happened to them was not their fault," said Morin. "They are victims who have suffered at the hands of others -- people they trusted, and people they believed were there to help them."
He went on to say, "To continue the healing process, this government recognizes the need for immediate intervention and counselling to help former students affected by abuse."
Morin also said that the GNWT will work with the people of the NWT to discuss ways of helping in the process. He did, however, maintain that the GNWT will continue to work toward replacing residential schools with grade extension programs in community schools.
While this path has been well-worn by the GNWT since the mid-1980s, as Dent said in his statement, this really isn't the issue. The issue is helping those who have already been abused -- that was the crux of the announcement, was it not?
People don't need to hear another apology. They need, and want to hear, that steps are being taken to begin a healing process that is long overdue. They need money for programs and healing circles, not more words from politicians.
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