Yes, Mr.

Speaker. I seek

unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you very much,

Mr. Speaker and colleagues.

If we as a country understand this history, then we can learn from it and build a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada needs to lead the way in reconciliation and make a full and sincere apology to all aboriginal people as soon as possible. I ask that our government request that Canada make a formal apology as soon as possible as an important step in rebuilding this country’s relationship with aboriginal people. Mahsi cho.

Mr. Speaker, this has been a time when we’ve been hearing a lot about cuts to government spending. There is a very significant piece of Territorial infrastructure out there that has been talked about, and there have been some very large dollars attached to the anticipation of such a structure. I’m talking about a courthouse here in Yellowknife.

Mr.

Speaker, many long-time residents of the

N.W.T. remember the days when the courthouse in Yellowknife was located on the second floor of the Federal Building, better known as the post office, so at one point the federal government did pay for and provide space for courts in Yellowknife. The federal government also maintains the right to appoint judges to the Supreme Court and the N.W.T. Court of Appeal. In addition, the federal Department of Justice also maintains responsibility for Crown prosecutors. So regardless of the fact that the Government of Canada has devolved responsibility for corrections and Territorial courts, they still have a fundamental role in the administration of justice in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I’m also aware that the Government of Canada paid for a courthouse in the Yukon in the 1980s and, I would guess, probably contributed to the construction of many of the provincial Supreme Court buildings that were built in Western Canada at the turn of the century on one of the previous major divisions of the Northwest Territories.

I do not dispute the need for a new Territorial court building, and I would like to see it built in Hay River, of course, but recognize that it is somewhat traditional for the highest court to be in the capital of the particular province or territory. I also recognize, Mr.

Speaker, the importance of ensuring the

impartiality of the judiciary and recognizing it as the third branch of government. I have also seen the very impressive architectural detail that has gone into provincial Supreme Court buildings across Canada and do not dispute that it should be a landmark building.

What I do object to, Mr. Speaker, is the amount of money that we would have to spend to accomplish the construction of a suitable legacy courthouse. As a legislator I cannot possibly support such a project when things like the high school and the hospital in my riding are in need of serious renovation and replacement. There are so many other capital projects that should be high on our priority list in the communities.

It is time, Mr. Speaker, to have the Government of Canada get involved and give us the same consideration that many other jurisdictions have received and either build the project on our behalf or provide us with the suitable funding to offset the cost of a new courthouse in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize a founding member of the N.W.T. Seniors’ Society, Mrs. Esther Braden, and also the executive director of the Seniors’ Society, Ms. Barb Hood. I want to thank them for their ongoing hard work on behalf of all seniors in the Northwest Territories.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions.

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Human Resources. I’ve been a Member of the House for over four years, and early on in the life of the 15th Legislative Assembly one of

the first things I took on was the staff concerns at North Slave Correctional Centre. I stood up here in the House day in and day out and told the Minister what was going on at North Slave Correctional Centre. He was adamant that nothing was going on at North Slave Correctional Centre, and we all know what happened after HR went in there and did a thorough analysis of what was happening: there were 68 recommendations that came down for areas of improvement.

I’m hearing those same types of concerns — and I’m not the only Member hearing the concerns — from staff at HR. Other Members are hearing them as well.

I’d like to begin by asking the Minister of Human Resources if he could look at having a way to go in there and talk to the employees in the department to find out what’s really going on there, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, talking to staff on a regular basis is something that I try to do regularly, and I will continue to do so. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the problem with that, I believe, is that staff at Human Resources are afraid to speak out. They need an avenue where they can feel they have some protection so that there are not reprisals against them, that they won’t lose their job. That’s the state of affairs there at Human Resources.

I’d like to ask the Minister: is it government policy that employees leave passwords for their computers with management, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, all government employees and the computers that they use are the Government of the Northwest Territories’ assets, so it’s important for the government to know what the passwords are. The Department of HR is a department that’s different than other departments, because we deal with processing pay and leave and pension records for all employees. So it’s important for us to be able to access the records of all employees on a regular basis. We need to know where the information is; we need the most up-to-date information.

If an HR employee is not there and we get a complaint from an MLA about one of their

constituents, we are expected to respond on an immediate basis and rectify the problem. So we’re focusing on results, and we need to be able to access records of employees so that we can ensure that they’re paid on time and that their leave is processed. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I made mention in my Member’s statement of offices being searched on the weekend for files. I wonder if this is common practice across the government. When employees go home on Friday afternoon in other departments, are they expected to have their offices searched on the weekend and then have to account for what’s in their office or not in their office on Monday morning? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in his Member’s statement the Member talked about a backlog of pay that hadn’t been processed that the Department of HR inherited through consolidation, which was inherited from the different departments. We are still in the process of eliminating that backlog, and I’m very pleased to say that we’re making substantial progress. We have a backlog team. We’re processing about a hundred final pay items on a weekly basis. We’ve reduced our backlog by close to 50 per cent. In order to do that, we have to be able to find files. Some files go back quite a number of years. So I wouldn’t call it searching an employee’s office. We’re not searching for any personal information of employees. What we need is the files that we need to get rid of the backlog that we have. Thank you.

Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

It sounds like the Minister is aware of the practice that is currently at play at Human Resources and he condones that.

I’d like to ask the Minister if he could commit to an outside review — a staffing review — of HR so that we can get an outside expert in there to talk to the staff that are at HR, so that they could let us know in a more formalized manner exactly what is happening there.

The previous government spent a lot of money on a review, which is less than two years old. Right now we’re focusing on results, on making sure people are paid on time and reducing our backlog. Once we’ve done that, I’d be pleased to do a review.

I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement and ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a couple of questions relative to some of the problems that teachers experience on a daily basis. I would like to ask the

Minister what the department does currently to provide housing for teachers in smaller communities.

Housing is a Northwest Territories issue. It’s a real challenge to deal with housing, especially in isolated communities. But we as a department are working with the LHOs in the communities, as well as the development corporations, to identify what is suitable in the communities. If there is any housing available, then we pass on the information to potential teachers that are coming in from outside and teachers from within the Northwest Territories.

I’m very glad to hear that the department is working on trying to find housing for teachers. There is a concern, as well, about the housing that exists in communities and that the housing that teachers are given…. There may be housing available, but it’s not very satisfactory housing. I’d like to know if the department is doing anything to try and upgrade those houses so that the living conditions for teachers are what they should be.

We as a government do not get involved with staff housing. We do what we can as a department to work with the development corporations at the community level and also the bands in the community — municipalities, if that’s the case — to have suitable housing or a unit in the community for professional staff that are coming in. That’s what we do as a department. We work with the Housing Corporation and other departments to identify those needs at the community level.

That’s not exactly the answer I was looking for, but I understand the situation. I would urge the department to work with their district education authorities to do more to bring housing in line with the conditions that most of us expect.

I’d like to ask whether or not the department has a zero-tolerance policy that addresses violence towards teachers in school.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. That’s sort of going to a different line of questioning, but I’ll allow the Minister to comment.

Yes, our department will continue to work closely with the communities. Specifically dealing with the housing issues, we have to continue hiring teachers in the communities, and we will continue working with the communities on that issue.

Based on the MLA strategic plan that we put together earlier in the year, the government’s response is to develop some

committees and have those committees go out and work on some strategic initiatives. One of those committees is refocusing government, and the role, at least as far as I understand, is to identify avenues for improving the public service and deciding how we can do business more effectively. To me that means or suggests that they’re going to be responsible for putting in initiatives related to training and development.

What types of initiatives and/or programs is the Minister intending to put in place that would help bring, into government jobs, people in communities who may lack education but who have skills and qualifications that might be related to the positions they’re applying on?

The Government of the Northwest Territories currently has a number of programs that we’re using for bringing people into the public service. We have the Management Assignment Program, we have the summer student program, and we have an internship program. We’re relying on the N.W.T. Apprenticeship Program and the education system and adult education to bring more people into the workforce.