Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, just before I answer the questions, I agree with my colleague, that even if we take a lunch break, I do not think I will be eating until this is resolved. I support him in that. Mr. Chairman, that is a very difficult question. I do not know whether the question is to go through all of the contracts that this government has done. In my statement, I kind of wanted to put things aside and just carry on with the work that is ahead of us. If the question is, will we go back and have somebody or some forum, the Auditor General, or some forum to take a look at maybe some of the contracts, I do not know how you are going to pick and choose which ones you are going to look at and if that is the case. I know the amount of work that goes into research and I think our staff in the different departments are very busy in preparation of just doing the normal day to day work and in preparation for division and so forth.

My honest opinion, is that I am going to have a difficult time agreeing to something like that if it is very comprehensive and it is going to take a lot of time and energy to do it. What would that prove? I think the outcome would be that we did everything right maybe, or is it transparent, but why would we want to do that is my question. Because of the reasons that I stated I would have a very difficult time agreeing to something like this. Thank you.

Thank you. We have Ms. Thompson, Mr. Erasmus, and then Mr. Arlooktoo. We will take a short ten minute break.

--Break

I would like to call the committee back to order. The next person on the list is Ms. Thompson.

Position on Negotiated Contracts

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question was, what is your position on negotiated contracts?

That is for both candidates. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, my position on negotiated contracts is that it is a good policy that this government has. It has been very successful in the smaller communities. It has developed skills and entrepreneurship and it has brought dollars into the local economy, trained a lot of people and so forth. It is a good policy and even though there is a lot of criticism, there are a lot of questions about it today, I think it is still a very good policy. What will happen here now with all the different, very transparent way of doing things in the right way. I think we are going to have to take a really close look at this negotiated contract policy again. However, we still should retain that policy, even after we take a really good review of it. Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Second question. Ms. Thompson.

Competitive Negotiated Contracts

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My second question for both candidates is, when do you feel that a company that obtains negotiated contracts is deemed to be competitive? I guess it is like saying, when do you become an elder? When do you feel that a company that obtains negotiated contracts is deemed to be competitive? Thank you.

Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the question I believe was, some indication of when companies or corporations in the communities will be finished going after negotiated contracts. I do not know, Mr. Chairman, when is that going to be. Now if there are companies that had enjoyed negotiated contracts in some of the communities, perhaps a community has grown and there are more companies in that particular community, perhaps that is when it is time to publicly tender contracts for them to participate in. In some cases there are companies that have been negotiating for some time, that are in a position to negotiate. Once that happens, that is when negotiated contracts should not be going to these companies. Thank you.

Questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Affirmative Action

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My question is for both of the candidates, it is in the area of affirmative action. Mr. Chairman, for some time now we have been hearing complaints from affirmative action candidates who have applied for jobs and I am talking about complaints coming from all types of long-term northerners, aboriginal and non-aboriginal, people who were born here or lived more than half their life here. I am being told that they received an interview through affirmative action and then they are told that they blew the interview, so they are losing out on the jobs. What they are saying is, they do not feel that they are getting a fair shake and there is too much emphasis placed on the interview because affirmative action policy seems to indicate that if you can do the job, you should be able to get the job.

Secondly, that there is no independent body in the hiring process anymore. Even if they appeal, there is no independent person there to indicate whether things were done properly or not. I would like to know from each of the candidates what they would do to improve the affirmative action process since this falls under the Premier and in particular, I would like to know how they feel about having an independent body or person back into the job selection process. Thank you.

Thank you. There are two questions to each of the candidates. Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you. I think the Affirmative Action Policy is a good policy within this government. The intentions are good in there to try to get a lot of aboriginal people within the workforce. The intention originally was to reflect the population of the north in the government civil service. What indications are, is that it did not happen.

We have changed the way we do hiring. The personnel department had been done away with once we did the fiscal restraint exercises and now every department is responsible for their own hiring and they have their own personnel within each department. If there is a problem by aboriginal people and I heard that there are some instances where there are allegations made that they were overlooked, even though they were qualified, because they blew their interviews. If that is the case, then I certainly would like to take a really good look at it. I think that enforcing the full measure of the Affirmative Action Policy is the way I would like to see it go. If there are some problems with it, we should try to identify where they are and address those problems.

As for an independent body in the hiring place, I think there needs to be something of that nature, where people feel they would like to look at it again by an independent person, then we should take a look at it. I know that in the hiring process there is an appeal process, as well and in many instances, I am aware that where there is a successful candidate, and once an appeal is in place, in come cases, the appeal is withheld. It is a long drawn-out process that is in place already. If there is a problem, then certainly I would like to really take a good look at it after getting familiar with that whole policy and what it is doing to date. Thank you.

Questions. Mr. Arlooktoo, and then Mr. Ng. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Providing Goods and Service to Nunavut

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to be able to ask questions to my fellow MLAs, I will be asking questions to only one of the candidates. This is not to be unfair, but I wanted to have Mr. Antoine clarify his position on a matter that Mr. Kakfwi spoke to in his opening comments.

The people of Nunavut recognize that despite the fact that Nunavut will be created in only 14 weeks, Nunavut residents recognize there will be a requirement to work closely with the western Northwest Territories. There will be a requirement that for the next three to five years, Nunavut will have to buy some services from the west. This will require trust, cooperation and goodwill. I would like to ask Mr. Antoine the following question, what are you prepared to do if you are elected to Premier, to ensure that the Government of the Northwest Territories will treat Nunavut with fairness, equality and respect? How would you achieve that? How can Nunavut residents be assured of that? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (Translation ends)

Mr. Antoine.