Yellowknife (Oct 15/04) - The slow pace in doling out more than $1 million in back pay to territorial corrections officers is an "outrage," says Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee.

An arbitrator ordered the territorial government to fork over an extra $1.25 million to approximately 50 guards working at various adult and juvenile corrections facilities last January.

The back pay claims go back to the implementation date for a collective agreement set for April 1998.

After the arbitrator sided with the guards, the territorial government put money aside in this year's budget to pay them back, but at least 13 corrections officers are still waiting for up to $20,000 each.

"I don't know why the government has to turn a good news story into a P.R. disaster," Lee said in the legislative assembly Wednesday.

"This is an outrage, it's totally unacceptable."

Finance Minister Floyd Roland said a hiring freeze and backlog at the Financial Management Board Secretariat (FMBS) prevented the government from getting the extra pay cheques out sooner.

"We just don't have all the resources to put staff in place," said Roland, noting the government's commitment to "live within our means" to pay off government debt.

Out of about 50 claims, 13 remain unpaid. Roland said he expects the last of those claims should be paid out by mid-December.

Lee said she can't understand why it's so difficult for government staff to track down the amount of money owed to the guards. "For regular people with a common sense mind, it's hard to believe," said Lee.

She asked Roland whether he intended to add interest to the money owed to corrections staff, but he said there are no provisions in territorial government policy to give out interest.

Union of Northern Workers president Todd Parsons said he is aware that the government has taken some time paying back the guards, but wasn't surprised.

He was also surprised that it was FMBS handling the claims and not the Department of Justice.

"It has taken a long time," said Parsons. "But I don't know what they're doing. They haven't told me otherwise."