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.