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Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
NWT nurses need higher pay, says MLA
A nursing shortage continues in the Northwest Territories and one MLA says the solution is offering higher wages. Over the past two years, staffing shortages have forced the closure of key health services in the NWT, including several closures of the obstetrics unit in Inuvik. Noting the country is experiencing a nursing shortage across the board, a spokesperson for Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority [NTHSSA] told NNSL Media that the NWT government filled 340.3 full-time equivalencies out of 360 front-line nursing positions budgeted for in 2024-25. 'Our continuing goal is to have as many of these filled as possible,' said NTHSSA communications director Krystal Pidborochynski. 'The NTHSSA may sometimes use agency nurses to fill gaps to prevent closure of essential services. The number changes depending on need. Currently the NTHSSA is using obstetrics nurses at Stanton Territorial Hospital and Inuvik Regional Hospital to fill gaps, as required.' Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart said the GNWT needs to start listening to what the College of Nurses (College and Association of Nurses of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) keeps telling them. The use of agency nurses, he noted, was particularly demoralizing for full-time staff and was pushing nurses away. 'Agency nurses are very well compensated,' he said. 'I think we should join in with other provinces and phase them out by 2026 and work on expanding our pool of locums. 'More importantly, training Indigenous and Northern nurses to stay in the NWT — we should be spending out money on the nurses who live here. We shouldn't be flying in private nurses who criss-cross across the country and get paid sometimes double what our staff are making. That's completely unacceptable.' Testart added that he's spoken to nurses who have been denied leave simply because there wasn't enough staff on hand to allow them to have time off. He said since the November 2023 territorial election, he's spoken to numerous nurses contending with low wages, extremely long hours and difficult conditions who simply had to stop working because they were burned out. 'I've seen nurses leave,' he said. 'Not just one, or two or three — but close to a dozen. That's a significant loss to the community. 'They're not being heard. They're not being properly compensated. We're not incentivizing front-line work.' A regularly updated action plan, similar to what Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has done since being elected, would help restore confidence in the territorial health authority, he added. Another area he suggested should be changed is how work schedules are handled — in most of the country a special agency oversees schedules, but in the NWT the task falls on nurses to organize themselves. Testart likened the situation to a supply and demand situation, noting the shortage of nurses simply means individual practitioners are simply worth more. 'When you have a supply shortage, the price goes up,' he said. 'If there's a shortage of nurses, you pay them more — and you find ways to do that.' May 12–18 is National Nursing Week. FACT FILE How NWT nurse wages compare to the rest of Canada
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Foreign workers in N.W.T. say they can't wait much longer for answers, after Nominee Program cuts
Eddie Singh went to a town hall Tuesday night in Yellowknife hoping to hear some good news. Singh, who had been working in the territory for nearly a year when cuts to the N.W.T. Nominee Program were announced, says he will have to move away when his work permit expires next month. He'd fallen 15 days short of the program's new requirement that applicants have a full year of work. "This is it — I don't have any other option now," he said. The town hall at the Northern United Place, held by Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart and Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, was meant to give the MLAs a better understanding of what people tied to the nominee program are facing, and what they'd like to see from the program in the future. Federal cuts to the program this year meant 150 people could apply, a vast reduction from previous years — and 60 of those spots were already reserved for previous applicants. The program attracts foreign nationals looking to immigrate to Canada, those already here with expiring work permits and individuals seeking permanent residency. Singh was among other attendees Tuesday that had heard there might be the potential for more nominees being accepted this year, after the federal government suggested provinces and territories could take more asylum seekers. Hawkins and Testart said in a news release earlier this month that the deal would have allowed the N.W.T. to accept 50 asylum seekers in exchange for 150 extra nominee spots. "So the federal government told our government that if you can demonstrate the utilization of your refugee programs, then we'll consider giving you your spots back," said Testart Tuesday. Transcripts from the last sitting of the legislature show Testart questioned Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Caitlin Cleveland in March about that proposal. At the time, Cleveland was waiting to hear more details from the federal government about the deal, including how asylum seekers would be supported. Hawkins and Testart said they would take what they heard and continue advocating for more nominee program spots. They said it's likely the government will be holding their own sessions to speak with people about the program in the future. (Jocelyn Shepel/CBC) With a federal election around the corner, Hawkins and Testart said they are advocating for the N.W.T. to take the deal but they believe the likeliness of that happening is uncertain. "I think that that deal is getting farther and farther away," said Testart. How many spots are being filled? A heavy question on employers' and applicants' minds is how many spots are actually being filled. One employer said they have more than 50 employees and can thus submit four applications under the new rules. However, none of their employees qualified to apply under the new requirements. Others said they were in similar situations. Testart and Hawkins said applications carrying over from 2024 and spots allocated for certain communities has had a large impact on what acceptance this year looks like. Employees with Matonabee Petroleum attended the townhall with their employer. They say the process is a slow and painstakingly long one but attending the meeting helped them feel supported. (Jocelyn Shepel/CBC) After the meeting, Simranjit Singh, a Yellowknife resident with a work permit quickly expiring, said he is still wondering about how many applications met the new requirements. He couldn't apply because he was short by 12 work experience days, and says most of the people he knows are facing the same problem. "Nobody knows what the numbers here are, like how many files have been collected?" he asked. A sentiment also shared by many attendees was an uneasiness about applications going through a lottery process. One attendee said running a person's chances to stay through a randomized selector reduces the feeling of humanity in the process. The nominee program website states applications that are not selected will stay in the intake queue until Dec. 12. "If a space becomes available due to application denials or withdrawals, the [program] will select an application for assessment from the intake queue at random," the website reads.. Many people stayed well after the meeting concluded, filling out and taking around 100 consent forms brought by MLAs so they could speak about and discuss their specific cases.
CBC
04-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
MLA's social media post doesn't affect finance minister's work, N.W.T. Speaker rules
The Speaker of the N.W.T. Legislature says that a Facebook post alleging backroom deals between N.W.T. cabinet ministers and MLAs does not impede the finance minister's ability to do her job — adding, members need to focus more on the work of the assembly and less on arguing. Speaker Shane Thompson made the ruling Monday on a point of privilege raised by Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek, who argued that comments made on social media by MLA Kieron Testart impede Wawzonek's ability to engage freely with MLAs. A point of privilege is a tool for members to address something impeding their ability to do their job, and allows MLAs to then consider possible remedies. In his Feb. 26 Facebook post, Testart said the 2025 territorial budget is on track because of "backroom deals." "As long as cabinet has their supporters in line, the entire process is little more than accountability theatre," Testart wrote. The post follows Testart's pitch last month for regular MLAs to vote together as a bloc. Wawzonek said that one-on-one meetings are a necessary part of the legislative process and that Testart's post creates a threat for herself and those she meets with, particularly as members discuss next year's operating budget. "This public statement on social media undermines the ability to have those frank conversations between MLA members and myself and other ministers," Wawzonek said. "I should not have to worry whether I or the person I may have spoken to will find ourselves vilified in some fashion on social media." In his ruling Monday, Thompson said the Facebook post does not affect Wawzonek's ability as finance minister to advance the assembly's budget, but he said members need to "step up" for their constituents. "We're here to work together for the benefit of all people in this territory," he said. "We were not elected to quarrel and bicker. This isn't what our people expect or need." On Thursday and Friday, MLAs raised two points of order in the assembly. That's in addition to Wawzonek's point of privilege. Thompson said that's concerning. "I'd expect more of you as members of this legislative assembly, the people who elected us do too," he said. Thompson said disagreements and healthy debate are expected in the assembly, but he reminded members to consider the consequences of what they say and type, both in and out of legislative proceedings. He said that should another member raise a similar point in the future his ruling could be different.
