Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the four times I have run for a seat in this House, during four election campaigns, when I have gone door-to-door, there have been concerns expressed to me about the hiring practices by a significant number of constituents each time. People have brought up concerns as to whether the hiring processes are fair, whether they are consistent across government, through departments, and whether affirmative action policies are being interpreted and applied properly.
Mr. Speaker, in the 12th Assembly, serious concerns were raised about human resources practices. We were then told that by ripping the Department of Personnel apart and splitting its functions between the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the departments, we would help solve some of the problems. We would save money and by bringing accountability to the departments, we would achieve better affirmative action statistics.
Mr. Speaker, in the 13th Assembly, the concern continued unabated. The Government Operations Committee did extensive work, submitting a detailed report with many recommendations which were adopted as motions in this House in committee of the whole. That report was tabled by Mr. Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, there has been no significant response from the government to this report. Earlier this year, the Accountability and Oversight Committee identified their concerns about human resources practices to the government. The committee sent a letter to the Minister responsible for the Financial Management Board Secretariat, Mr. Handley.
In that letter, we noted that:
"It is felt that with the abolition of the Department of Personnel, and the subsequent reassignment of those responsibilities to each department, that it may now be time to complete an evaluation. The committee would like to be advised as to whether the government would be prepared to perform an operational audit of the Government of the Northwest Territories' human resource administration and services. This audit could be performed by the audit bureau, and include a cost-benefit comparison between the previous human resource management model and the present model."
Mr. Speaker, the government chose not to agree to follow through on this request. We received a letter from Mr. Handley, in which he noted a number of new initiatives that had been undertaken in the past couple of years. He summarized the rejection by saying:
"I do not believe the timing is right for a management audit of human resources management in the government. I suggest we review this idea in about one year's time."
Mr. Speaker, we have spent many years talking about this issue. We do not have time to wait a year. We are not satisfied waiting a year. We want this government to take action now.
In the past, Mr. Speaker, cost has been used as a reason to not proceed with an independent body like the Public Service Commission. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, given the growth of the number of people performing the job that was formerly done by the Department of Personnel, I cannot buy that argument.
A Public Service Commission should certainly not increase cost. In fact, it would probably allow for some economies. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier today, there has been a 21 percent growth in the number of people providing human resources functions for this government since 1991-1992.
Over that same period, the people for whom they provide the services, including all boards and agencies, has dropped from 6,133 to 3,481, a 43 percent decrease. Twenty-one percent more people providing services to 43 percent fewer people.
Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I had questioned the Premier on accountability. The Premier indicated that Cabinet as a whole has collective responsibility for ensuring there is accountability and fairness with the policies across the government departments.
Mr. Speaker, I remember when this decentralization of the Department of Personnel was first talked about. It was sold to many Members of this House as, rather than a collective responsibility, an individual responsibility. Ministers would be held responsible for the performance of their departments and how human resources functions were being performed. Ministers would be held accountable in this House for their performance, and there would be consequences if we did not see positive action in affirmative action.
We were told that the individual deputy ministers would be held accountable, that they would not receive performance bonuses if they were not making sure they were following the practices of this government when it came to human resources.
Today we have heard that there may not be a method of keeping this accountability. That causes me significant concern, Mr. Speaker. I believe we need to have some way to ensure we are monitoring what is happening in human resources practices. We need to know that we are having that done by an independent agency, which ensures fairness and equity and ensures they are following adopted practices and procedures of this Legislative Assembly.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage all Members to vote in favour of this motion and encourage the government to follow through in a speedy fashion to meet the request that we make with it. At the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will be requesting a recorded vote.