Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Personnel. The Members of this House are aware of my long standing concerns regarding the hiring practices of this government and its commitment to hiring aboriginal people at senior levels notwithstanding the Affirmative Action Policy. We all know that the aboriginal people are not adequately represented at the management level in this government. From discussions with the honourable Member for Kitikmeot, Mr. Bernhardt, I know that these are issues in his region also. Recently, aboriginal employees of the Department of Public Works in Cambridge Bay have communicated their concerns that they are being discriminated against when promotions are made within the department, in favour of non-aboriginal employees who are not better qualified.
Mr. Speaker, is the Minister aware of these serious concerns of aboriginal employees of the Department of Public Works in the Kitikmeot region regarding the department's apparent unequal treatment of aboriginal employees?