Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That's okay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to make a brief comment regarding the integration of the Personnel Secretariat into the Department of Executive. I have indicated since the first announcement this was a recommendation from the proper committee my concern with this initiative, I had indicated that I was worried that affirmative action and other policies of this government might not be implemented properly.

Quite some time ago, at the beginning of April or thereabouts, prior to the students coming back from university, I had asked questions on how this government was going to deal with putting our students to work when they got back. I have heard some complaints that people are putting in requests for specific students and I am quite concerned that this does not follow our affirmative action policy. It doesn't allow for this government to show a commitment to those people who have shown a commitment to the North. Having people put in a request for a specific student who might be a manager's son or daughter, or a manager's friend's son or daughter, who may have only been in the Territories for a year or two, is no way of doing business.

Our jobs for students should be for those long-term students who have been in the North and have shown a commitment to the North. The Minister of FMBS had indicated that during their negotiations, he had attempted to get the union to agree to have a separate category for students, so we could have more jobs for students. Pay them a little less so you can use the money allocated for student positions and have more jobs. The union told them no. So in some instances, we are paying students $20 an hour, some $18 and some $14.

In a case when there aren't enough positions to go around, this government should have the initiative to ensure that our affirmative action policy is being followed in the area of our students. Mr. Chairman, is this an indication of what is going to happen in the next years that are upcoming?

This policy was implemented April 1st, as I understand it. It is less than two months later and already long-term northerners are being overlooked for others who haven't been here for that long. I know that there have been other Members who have expressed the fact that they are concerned. Recently, Mr. Ootes was asking about our students. Mr. Picco also asked. I am not alone. We need assurances that affirmative action and other government policies will be properly implemented. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me assure the Member that the affirmative action policy will be implemented and any new policy that comes forward will be implemented, as well. The concern he has raised is a legitimate concern; it's not the first time that it's been raised in this Legislative Assembly. The issue of nepotism has been raised before; of people hiring their relatives or good friends;

issues like that. Having a stand-alone Personnel Department never did stop that. I believe that by empowering the managers and by holding managers accountable, the buck will stop at their door. They will be held accountable and dealt with accordingly if they do not follow the policies of this government.

I would use this forum to publicly say that if anybody is aware of people doing that, please let your MLA, myself or anyone know and we will follow it up. We do have a process in place to follow up concerns about people getting hired and not going through the proper process. We will follow it up.

The good thing about amalgamating Personnel into the departments is that you now have one manager accountable and one manager only. One Minister, as well; people that you elect to sit in this Legislative Assembly to represent you. We will not only hold the deputies accountable, we will hold those Ministers accountable, as well.

It is up to them to make sure that the policies of this government are adhered to. As far as people putting in requests for specific students, I'm not aware of this. It should follow proper procedure and should be done properly.

You are absolutely right that Mr. Todd did try to negotiate with the union to get a better value for our dollar to be able to hire more students. We could hire more students and we can get better use of our dollars if we are allowed to do that. We have discussed this before, as a government, and Mr. Dent is going to be looking at a cost-sharing arrangement with the private sector, as well, so that we can find a way to get the best value for our buck and hire more students. One of the priorities of this government is education, and every student should have a summer job when he or she comes back to the North. We can no longer afford to pay $22, $20 or $18 an hour. If we were able to pay $14, $12 or $16, we could hire a lot more students.

As far as the concern that Mr. Erasmus raised, Mr. Chairman, that concern has been raised before and it's always looked into. It's not because of Personnel amalgamating into the departments; this is not the first time I'm hearing it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wonder if the Premier could indicate whether affirmative action is supposed to be followed when the students are being hired for summer positions this year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the past, the summer student program gave casual hiring priority to students from May 1st to August 31st. As a result, many people who should have benefitted from the affirmative action policy were not being hired as casuals during the summer months. On February 2, 1994, the Minister of Personnel approved changes to the casual employment guidelines. From May 1st to August 31st, casual positions are filled according to the following priorities:

Priority 1A: Indigenous Aboriginal Students

Priority 1B: Indigenous Aboriginal Persons

Priority 2A: Indigenous Non-Aboriginal Students or Resident Disabled Students

Priority 2B: Other Indigenous Non-Aboriginal Persons or Resident Disabled Persons

Priority 3A: Resident Student

Priority 3B: Other Persons

That's how they are to give priorities with hiring. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I've had a complaint that ... I'm not exactly sure where this person fits in. He's a long-term northerner, non-aboriginal. I don't know if that's P-1B or P-2A or whatever. This person has not been able to get a job but that person knows of several P-3 students who have positions. Either this policy is not being followed or somehow they're finding ways to slip through. We need reassurances that our long-term students should be getting these jobs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would be pleased to meet with Mr. Erasmus to get the details of the concern he has raised. If I could get the specific details -- I would not ask for them in public -- then we can check the system and see if it's working. I and my staff will investigate it personally so we can find out if this system is working or not. We'll hold those who are accountable, accountable. Thank you.

Agreed.

--- Agreed

--- DINNER RECESS

Agreed.

--- Agreed

Ministers' Offices

Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, I never got the question. On what page?