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Yellowknife shut out of benefits increase MLA calls for new formula for calculating GNWT Northern Allowance
Laura Busch
Northern News Services
Published Friday, April 26, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Northern allowances for territorial government workers increased in every community in the territory April 1, except Yellowknife.
GNWT Northern allowance rates
Northern living allowance amounts for 2013/14 (2012/13) by community; and number of GNWT employees as of Dec. 31, 2011.
- Yellowknife: $3,450 ($3,450); 2,295 employees
- Dettah: $3,463 ($3,463); zero employees
- Hay River: $5,410 ($5,187); 272 employees
- Fort Providence: $7,115 ($6,828); 63 employees
- Fort Smith: $7,059 ($6,895); 486 employees
- Kakisa: $7,034 ($6,756); two employees
- Aklavik: $21,173 ($20,490); 42 employees
- Paulatuk: $26,336 ($25,539); 19 employees
Source: Collective agreement between the Union of Northern Workers and the GNWT effective April 1, GNWT public service annual report
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That's because Yellowknife sets the base rate when the Department of Human Resources calculates the benefit each year, said Michelle Beard, director of HR strategy and policy. Also, while increases in Yellowknife have been negotiated with the Union of Northern Workers in the past, an increase wasn't part of the latest collective agreement reached with the union last year.
There were 2,995 GNWT employees in Yellowknife as of Dec. 31, 2011.
"(The Northern Allowance is) to allow people to be able to afford to live in the communities," said Beard.
"The cost of living component equalizes the cost difference between Yellowknife and the communities."
The equation used by the department to calculate the Northern Allowance compares the cost of goods, services and transportation between communities in the territory - called the "basket of goods" by the department.
"The basket of goods is based on Yellowknife spending patterns. It's a survey of spending that's conducted every two years by Statistics Canada," said Beard. "So, this basket is expanded to include recreation, clothing, footwear, goods and services."
The cost of travelling from each community to Yellowknife and Edmonton is taken into consideration, she said. For communities with no airport, the cost of a return drive is also accounted for.
Range Lake MLA Daryl Dolynny disagrees with the department's method of calculating Northern Allowance.
"The current framework for calculating northern living allowance is archaic and irrelevant," he told Yellowknifer in an e-mail response Wednesday. "We need a new formula that introduces commodity-based variances and regional balance."
Assuming Yellowknifers spend less on essential goods and services is inaccurate, said Dolynny, pointing to the fact gas prices have consistently been lower in Hay River since at least January.
"Once again, the assumption that commodities are cheaper in Yellowknife is not true - look at gas prices and, most recently, look at liquor prices," he said. "Furthermore, our energy costs are going up yearly."
Beginning this year, electricity in the capital is set to increase by seven per cent each year for three years and then shoot up by 26 per cent in year four.
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