GNWT employees were on their mandatory leave right right now, with pay. It's an exclusive perk just for them and are commonly known as 'Donnie Days.' The GNWT calls it Mandatory Leave With Pay (MLWP).
The moniker is attributed to former premier Don Morin, who came up with the idea as a solution for dealing with the territorial government's substantial deficit at the time. Originally, it was a mandatory five unpaid days off starting in 1996, but they were eventually negotiated into paid time off in 2009. It was estimated that the move saved the GNWT around $1 million per day at the time. The Union of Northern Workers proposed with the City of Yellowknife.
But if you ask Roy Erasmus, who was the MLA for the old riding of Yellowknife North at the time Donnie Days were instituted, he'll tell you there's a bit more behind its inception.
And it all had to do with the creation of Nunavut.
"The federal government decreased our budget by $150 million," he said. "They didn't say it (at the time), but that's what they used to create Nunavut."
The mandatory leave days are Dec. 23, Dec. 24, Dec. 27, Dec. 30 and Dec 31, which were typically quiet days at work already, Erasmus said.
"A lot of people were taking their own time off, anyways, to be with their family," he said. "So there was hardly anybody in the offices."
Fast forward nearly 30 years and the GNWT is still looking for ways to save money. The territory is more than $1 billion in debt, according to its most recent budget. Will the territory ever take a second look at Morin's original plan? Not likely, said Erasmus.
"But who knows? You never know," he said. "I don't think the current group of MLAs would do that."
Layoffs could always still happen, however. Public service unions have previously warned about layoffs happening at the federal level late last year. Erasmus said that the GNWT would probably look at cutting programs - which would mean less employees needed - but he doesn't think any sort of mass layoffs will happen. "But you never know," he added.
Pointing to the federal government, Erasmus said he thinks there will be a Conservative government coming in, which explains why people think there will be a reduction in the territorial government workforce.
The catch with that, he added, is a reduction in services.
"People want more services," he said. "And if you want more services, you've got to have more employees."
SA国际影视传媒 reached out to the GNWT for comment as well, but nobody was available to comment, with many citing they were out of office.
