Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 13/99) - Nurses will soon be getting more money.

Health Minister Floyd Roland announced in the legislature on Sept. 8 that his department had negotiated an agreement with the Union of Northern Workers to provide what he called a "temporary market supplement" to nurses.

This money will come from the $3 million that had already been identified to use specifically for nurse recruitment and retention.

"Having this agreement in place means that approximately 270 indeterminate nurses employed by health and social services boards and related agencies will be eligible to receive temporary market supplements in the year 2000," Roland told the legislature.

"Part of the funding will also be used to hire three full-time nurse-mentors," he added.

To decide how to spend the additional money, Roland said his department consulted with stakeholders including representatives from the Union of Northern Workers, the NWT Registered Nurses Association, health and social services boards and the Financial Management Board Secretariat.

"The additional professional support and salary supplement will certainly help make the NWT more competitive in recruiting new nurses," Roland said.

He then cited a study of compensation levels across Canada which showed the NWT has the highest base salary for nurses.

This statement was not enough for Yellowknife North MLA Roy Erasmus, who cited how the NWT also has the highest cost of living in Canada.

"(The NWT's nursing salaries should be) not only the highest based salary, it should be substantially higher than anybody else," he said.

When Erasmus asked whether the NWT's nursing salaries were still the highest in Canada after the cost of living was factored in, Roland replied that the survey in question did not factor in the cost of living.