A plan to review the public service under Premier R.J. Simpson is raising eyebrows with the Union of Northern Workers, but Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek says there are no plans to cut jobs.

In an interview with SA国际影视传媒 this week, Simpson and Wawzonek said the aim was to find around $150 million in operating budget savings and an additional $150 million in the 20th Legislative AssemblySA国际影视传媒檚 four-year lifespan to put toward reducing the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 debt.

The reason for this, Simpson said, was to shield the GNWT from the costs of future climate disasters, which are all but guaranteed, and other bad surprises such as future pandemics or geopolitical shifts.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat will help us create a cushion between our budget and our borrowing limit,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚n case thereSA国际影视传媒檚 another disaster that requires us to expend a significant amount of funds, weSA国际影视传媒檒l actually have those funds available. ItSA国际影视传媒檚 hard to predict whatSA国际影视传媒檚 going to happen, but we know enough about our own territory, our own finances and our relationship with Canada that we can create a budget that we think is appropriate for the Northwest Territories.

SA国际影视传媒淎s long as our finances are in good shape, weSA国际影视传媒檒l be able to weather whatever storm is coming. The last four years, the government has been very reactive SA国际影视传媒� it had no choice because we had Covid, we had floods and we had fires. Now is our opportunity to be proactive.SA国际影视传媒�

Simpson said the aim was to create a long-term fiscal sustainability model for the current and future GNWTs to follow.

In practice, Wawzonek said the plan was to only use operating budget surpluses for capital plans, so there would be less money for major infrastructure projects available compared to past governments. Short-term debt exposes the GNWT to higher interest rates, which is an area of SA国际影视传媒渟ignificant growthSA国际影视传媒� in costs, she said.

Wawzonek said the majority of the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 short-term debt is owed to banks. Roughly 80 per cent of the governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 budget is provided by the federal government, to the tune of nearly $2 billion a year. She noted that with the recently announced suspension of the carbon tax on home heating oil, the GNWT was forgoing approximately $4.5 million per year after the Cost of Living Offset subsidy is paid out which it would need to find elsewhere.

One-third of the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 operating budget is health care costs, added Wawzonek.

UnionSA国际影视传媒檚 misgivings

In a press release, UNW president Gayla Thunstrom said she was concerned about the use of the term SA国际影视传媒渇inding efficienciesSA国际影视传媒� by the GNWT and noted much of the surge in cost of living is from gaps in essential services.

SA国际影视传媒淚f the GNWT is going to highlight healthcare costs as one of its greatest fiscal challenges, it needs to get serious about recruitment and retention,SA国际影视传媒� she stated. SA国际影视传媒淔ighting northern-based healthcare workers over pennies on the dollar while shelling out money hand over fist for southern contract workers is not a cost-effective solution to our healthcare crisis.

SA国际影视传媒淭he efficient delivery of government programs services requires adequate capacity and resourcing.SA国际影视传媒�

Wawzonek noted the government renewal program has been underway for some time and she was SA国际影视传媒渢hrilledSA国际影视传媒� to be able to pick it back up.

She said she had received a lot of feedback asking when people would see results of the initiative and added those changes were now possible.

SA国际影视传媒淭his is where we get to actually make good, having done a full inventory of every single program and service across government, including in health, and starting to do some evaluations of those programs, which is not a culture we had before,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淪o we can now actually go in and look at some of the programs.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檒l use health as an example, because at the same time weSA国际影视传媒檝e also been doing a health sustainability examination, looking at what is driving the cost of health in the Northwest Territories. So now we can stop and say SA国际影视传媒楢re there things that are duplicated? Are there programs being offered in a way that is not achieving good value for our dollar? Are there better ways to offer those programs and still give essential services to residents?SA国际影视传媒� ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 the realignment SA国际影视传媒� what are we trying to achieve?SA国际影视传媒�

Acknowledging that the North was in a major labour shortage, Wawzonek said she wanted to hear from departments how things could be operated better. She noted there was potential room for more digital service delivery, particularly for follow-up appointments instead of requiring residents to travel to major centres for appointments.

To this end, she said GNWT has opened an anonymous tip line for workers to provide feedback to how their department operates.

SA国际影视传媒淚 donSA国际影视传媒檛 have an answer for how weSA国际影视传媒檙e going to fix it, but what I want to acknowledge that itSA国际影视传媒檚 ripe for fixing,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淪o this is an opportunity within this strategy to push all our departments to say what can we do to make service better.

SA国际影视传媒淔ront line workers have anecdotally brought ideas to me over the years. I have been really struck by the response to that and I think thatSA国际影视传媒檚 going to find a lot of a great ways we can bring our organization back to fiscal health.SA国际影视传媒�

However, Thunstrom questioned the value of a tip line, suggesting the practice would pit public service workers against one another for funding, which she stated would create a toxic workplace culture.

She cautioned public service workers are already being pushed to the limit and further pressure would likely cause more talent to move south to explore better opportunities.

Thunstrom pointed out the largest growth in public sector employment was in upper management, pointing to the GNWT Public Service Annual Report 2022-2023, which shows senior management positions grew by eight per cent between March 2022 and March 2023, compared to a one per cent increase in teacher positions. Employment of members of the NWT TeacherSA国际影视传媒檚 Association grew from 538 to 545 in that time, while senior management positions expanded from 231 to 250.

In other words, it appears the GNWT hired more than twice as many senior managers to teachers in the course of a year.

SA国际影视传媒淪enior management positions saw the largest growth in our public service over the past year - how much duplication or redundancy is happening at the top? Has the GNWT become too top heavy?SA国际影视传媒� she asked. SA国际影视传媒淲ill senior management within each department be evaluating themselves against their program staff? Will the protection of higher-level administrative positions come at the cost of program and service-level employees?SA国际影视传媒�

Make cuts in management: union

Thunstrom suggested that if the GNWT is looking to find efficiencies, it should be doing so from the top down and looking to cut costs of management. She also stated the GNWT could save money on legal fees if it stopped fighting its employees over SA国际影视传媒渨ithheld rights and benefits that workers are entitled to under their collective agreements and HR policies.SA国际影视传媒�

She added the GNWT should be expanding health care spending to make the public health sector an employer of choice to retain staff and review existing programs to determine if theySA国际影视传媒檙e achieving their stated goals.

Simpson said his priority was making sure the core elements of service delivery were being met before expanding the scope of the GNWTSA国际影视传媒檚 role in the North.

SA国际影视传媒滻 really want to ensure that we shore up our basic health care services,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲e have a lot of different programs in health care, itSA国际影视传媒檚 great to have all these programs but we also need to make sure people have access to a doctor.

SA国际影视传媒淪o weSA国际影视传媒檙e ensuring weSA国际影视传媒檙e directing those core needs before we expand the services that we offer.SA国际影视传媒�

Wawzonek said the fiscal renewal strategy would not affect the current collective bargaining negotiations between the GNWT and public service workers, which are still underway.

With the legislative assembly discussing its priorities this week, Wawzonek said she was open to all suggestions, though stopped short when asked if a reduction in MLA compensation was also on the table.

SA国际影视传媒漈he starting point is looking at the data we have and making evidence and data driven decisions,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭he renewal strategy is not targeting one department or service, itSA国际影视传媒檚 something we sent back to all departments collectively as a whole government, asking where can we go to find this funding to pay down debt and make sure our capital budget stays fully funded.

SA国际影视传媒淭here may be service changes, but as the Premier said, we want to make sure our core services are well-funded and funded appropriately. Cutting jobs and losing public service is not a situation we want to find ourselves in. At the same time, weSA国际影视传媒檝e seen significant public service growth over the last few years. Slowing that growth down and making sure we are utilizing the folks that we have in the best way that we can to all of their skill sets, thatSA国际影视传媒檚 certainly something we want to be looking at.SA国际影视传媒�

Fact file

Government employment and NWT population

2022-23

6,481 employees

UNW members - 4,998

Teachers - 545

Excluded from union - 670

Senior managers - 250

Salary and benefits costs - $919 million

NWT population - 44,515

2021-22

6,376 employees

UNW members - 4,921

Teachers - 539

Excluded from union - 662

Senior managers - 231

Salary and benefits costs - $870 million

NWT population - 44,791

2020-21

6,252 employees

UNW members - 4,810

Teachers - 545

Excluded from union - 643

Senior managers - 235

Salary and benefits cost - $812.5 million

NWT population - 44,579

2014

5,141 employees

Salary and benefits costs - $649 million

NWT population - 43,851

Sources: GNWT public service annual reports and NWT Bureau of Statistics