Mr. Speaker, I’d like to use my Member’s statement today to talk about affirmative action or, in some cases, the lack of affirmative action.
I look to a time when most of the jobs were taken up by southerners who were just up here for the money. Many of those people decided to stay and make the North their home, and for that, I’ve always thanked them.
As more and more aboriginal Northerners became trained to take over many departments, Mr. Speaker, I thought we were turning a corner. But I was wrong. After what I heard from this individual with two degrees — a P1 candidate who can’t even get an interview for a management job — I think we’re back in the old days when that was the standard way of operating within the government.
I heard from a young lady who applied for a position with the G.N.W.T. and didn’t even get an interview. That angered me, Mr.
Speaker. She attended
Aurora College, but she’s not qualified for work with the G.N.W.T. Is this an indication of what we think of the programs that are offered by Aurora College, where we don’t even use some of the graduates?
The qualifications…. Departments are coming up with creative ways to eliminate Northerners from positions. Qualifications are asked that take many Northerners out of contention for positions within the G.N.W.T. Then when some are put into a position, people who have been there for years are asked to train them. Yet they apply, and they can’t even get an interview, or they’re not qualified for these positions and are asked to train someone that comes in.
I want to see Northerners trained for advancement within the G.N.W.T. Transfer assignments should not be a way to get around the system and hand-pick people.
We can contribute, Mr. Speaker. We want to be able to contribute on merit and not just to fill statistics or fill a quota. We’ve come a long way, and we want to be a part of the future of the N.W.T. We have the most to gain or lose from this, because it’s where we’re going to live for the rest of our lives.
Mr. Speaker, I look around in this Assembly and see over half the Members in here are aboriginal. I see the other half that are longtime white Northerners who plan on being up here for awhile.
We should use this as an opportunity to get an indication of where we’ve come from, where we can go, and how we have to use this to protect the people that are out there that are trying to advance within the government system. We have to ensure that we do whatever we can to move these people along, because they can do the job. Like I said, they want to do the job on merit. I see it.