Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government commissioned a report called the Grant Thornton report on human resource practices. I am interested in what progress has been made to date in responding to the recommendations in this report. This is an area of government policy and activity that is of significant interest to many of the constituents in my riding. Whether you are a candidate for employment seeking to secure a position in the GNWT public service or you are currently an employee looking for opportunities to advance your skills, training and career, the impact of the direction undertaken by this government needs to be carefully considered because it has many implications.
The public and the public service are looking for a very clear signal from this government as to their philosophy and goals and what principles of fair practice are going to be the underpinning of the potential transition from affirmative action to employment equity.
I am also concerned about the present degree of uniformity amongst government departments and agencies in practice at this time. It appears that some departments are already at the implementation stage of a new direction, as indicated by the Justice Minister's recent announcement of a departmental human resource management policy.
The newspaper is full of career opportunities in the North and many of these are for government departments and agencies. Our ability to recruit and retain qualified staff will be affected by the outcome of our deliberations around human resource management. Labour markets nationally and internationally, for many reasons, seem to be a dirth of qualified candidates in many occupations.
While our ultimate goal is to prepare Northerners to meet our labour market demands, in the interim, our human resource management policy will play a large part in our ability to staff our public service. I have attempted to raise this issue earlier in the session, but have not received a satisfactory level of response. It is important that whatever direction is taken, that the input of Regular Members of this Assembly will be fully considered. Later in question period, I will ask questions of the Minister responsible for the public service as to the status of work in this important area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause