Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about restoring faith in the government hiring process. Mr. Speaker, as other Members in this House have had occasion to travel to other communities and it seems that no matter where I go, whether it is Fort Smith, Hay River, Fort Providence, people are concerned with the hiring process. They are concerned with the inconsistencies between the different departments, the different processes that they use to hire people. They are concerned that people who have been laid off are supposed to have a priority when hiring is done, but they cannot even apply on most jobs because most of the jobs are internal competitions.
People are concerned that there is no central agency, that there is no independent person in the hiring process to ensure fairness. People are complaining that they get an interview, but that they have been told that they blew the interview even though they are well qualified for the job, therefore no job. People are complaining that there is no sense of fairness, that the only people in the hiring process are from the department itself and it is too easy to manipulate the end result. Mr. Speaker, plain and simply, the public has lost faith in our hiring process. We need to restore that faith.
Recently the Premier went on television and addressed the NWT and indicated he wanted to restore public confidence in our government, he wanted an open, accountable and transparent government. One of the best ways to do this is to restore faith in the hiring process. Mr. Speaker, it is important that our hiring process not only be fair, but it must appear to be fair. What I am saying is that it may be fair now, but it does not seem accountable, it does not seem to be fair. If we put an independent body into the hiring process from the start to the finish, this will verify fairness and accountability. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Premier questions in this area. Thank you.