Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to make some comments in regards to the report. I have reviewed this and while I support the principle that government employment should reflect the makeup of the northern population, I am still somewhat skeptical about the ability of an affirmative action policy to meet this goal. I think the committee is to be commended for the work it has done, especially on the report before us. There are many good recommendations in this. Unfortunately, I still have some wariness. I think the report we are discussing today depends on the success of the Affirmative Action Policy being devised as a policy that managers want to follow, not something they have to follow. I think that needs to be there and the committee rightly points this out, that this change depends on our ability to create a competent and competitive northern labour pool.
I agree with the committee's recommendations on supporting affirmative action through programs that promote education, on the job training and promotion of skilled individuals. I believe these measures will do more in the long run to create a representative workforce than the strict imposition of demographic ratios. In time, Mr. Chairman, I hope this government has no need of an Affirmative Action Policy. I believe that a skilled resident northern labour force will always do a better job certainly over labour imported from other regions of the country and it will help us create a community in which people compete for jobs on an equal footing without resentment created by those who feel they have lost opportunities because of the Affirmative Action Policy. Unfortunately, we cannot raise a magic wand and produce the kind of workforce that we all want.
There are some areas of concern in this report, Mr. Chairman. One for example, perhaps one of the Members of the committee could address for me, speaks about the 10 year residency to be an affirmative action candidate and the promotion of individuals within the government. Hypothetically, for example, if there was an affirmative action candidate with one year government experience and there was also a candidate...let us say the affirmative action candidate was aboriginal but we had another individual with nine year's government experience and only nine years northern residency and there was a promotion in order, who would get the promotion? Because the individual with the nine years government experience and the nine years northern residency would not be considered as a northerner. So perhaps I could get an answer to that question, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.