Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In keeping with some of my colleagues’ talk about the cost of living today, I want to talk about power. This is something that’s been on the minds of many Northerners and this government in recent months, that’s for sure.

When knowledge of the unsolicited proposal came out, it sent the employees at NTPC into a state of wondering about their future. Mr. Premier came to Hay River and met with staff and management and communicated the GNWT plan as we were moving forward. Work is now proceeding on the electricity rate review as we attempt to wrap our thoughts around the challenges of delivering reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy to our residents and businesses. Residents and businesses in communities large and small, remote and urban, thermal and hydro, and definitely on a wide spectrum of differences, all of this to the backdrop of our constituents appealing to us, as legislators, about the high cost of living in the North. Our

population decline must be partially related to the high cost of living, which necessarily includes the cost of power.

So the NTPC review is done. But it’s only one piece in a much larger puzzle. No review of NTPC or any search for potential efficiencies within that organization is going to be the entire answer to our high cost of power. We need to look at the whole issue of electricity regulation, generation, distribution and costs.

Power is an essential service. The GNWT, in some schizophrenic role in a bad movie here, actually plays all the main parts in this movie. The GNWT in some way either controls or owns the regulation, the rate levelizing, the generation, the distribution, and, to top it all off, they are the main customer as well. We take great pains to put ourselves at arm’s length from all of these processes. How much does this cost to put all of this at arm’s length? What is the added value of putting all these processes at arm’s length?

Enough studies, enough reviews. Let’s get to the most straightforward way to get affordable power to our residents.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Today I would like to talk about the GNWT’s hiring practices. As mentioned in this House before, the economies and employment opportunities in our smaller communities like Fort Resolution and Lutselk’e can only realize limited potential. Yet, in spite of this, many of the residents continue to live in these communities because it is home and has been their home for many generations. It is true that some migrate to larger centres, but for a good many, they remain committed to their community and will go out and get their education and return to their community. However, with only limited GNWT positions up for competition every so often, many of these individuals, for some reason or another, are overlooked.

I understand the GNWT’s hiring practices are guided by principles of fairness and equality, but in reality this is not the case. It places greater emphasis on education than it does on experience. Unfortunately, the reality of this is that many aboriginals do not possess a masters or even a degree-level education as compared to non-aboriginal persons that come north. So when these competitions come up, many aboriginal applicants are screened out because they do not have that degree or a masters.

The hiring practices of the GNWT do not reflect the population it serves and, therefore, can be seen as serving only a certain sector of the population and failing others as far as GNWT employment opportunities go.

Mr. Speaker, even though many do not possess a masters or a degree level of education, they possess many years of direct hands-on experience in the area they are applying for. In addition to this, they also possess the ultimate grasp on the dynamics associated with living and/or working in the smaller, isolated communities. Too often the non-aboriginal hires only last a few years before moving. Doing so means added cost to the GNWT and additional expenses related to turnover. The hiring practices of the GNWT are flawed and need to be…

Mr. Beaulieu, your time for your Member’s statement has expired.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, the hiring practices of the GNWT are flawed and need to be reviewed so it can reduce the high turnover costs and, more importantly, allow equal opportunity for those who do not possess specific education requirements but do possess the related experience to do a good job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a friend of mine, Trevor Teed.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know he’s been recognized already, but I’d like to make a special mention of Mr. Paul Harvey, who’s the president of Ekati. He and his wife worked here two years back, moved to Australia, probably transferred, but they liked it so much they moved back to Yellowknife, to the Territories, in my riding of Range Lake. So I would like to welcome him and his wife back. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Mr. John Kearney, president of Canadian Zinc and frequent visitor to the community of Fort Simpson. Welcome to the gallery. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize a couple people. First off I’d like to recognize Mr. Mike Vaydik, our executive director of NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. As well, I’d certainly like to do a special recognition to both Richard Morland and Kim Truter. They’re more than just leaders of their individual mining corporation; they’re also community contributors that make a difference in our Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize Weledeh resident Trevor Teed and former resident Dave Nickerson. I’d also like to recognize Julie Green, a freelance reporter and worker with the YWCA, I believe.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. If we missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I talked about the hiring practices of the GNWT and how it places a higher emphasis on education and less on equivalencies and

experience. I have a question for the Minister of Human Resources.

Mr. Speaker, almost all of the GNWT job ads have the “equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.” If you ask an aboriginal applicant who does not have a degree or a masters but has years of related experience, they would say that equivalencies are not taken into account. I’d like to ask the Minister: how does the department assess the value of equivalencies and/or experience when reviewing job applications? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to assure the Member that the Government of the Northwest Territories uses equivalencies in almost all of its competitions except for those competitions where there’s a statutory requirement to have certification; for example, medical positions or legal positions. Usually it’s a combination of related work experience and years of service. It’s something that we review on a regular basis for all of our jobs that we have in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, many applicants do not possess a bachelors or a masters degree but do possess diplomas or certificates and certainly possess the experience, and they live in the smaller communities where they plan to live for years to come. Can the Minister commit to placing a greater emphasis on equivalencies and experience, even some emphasis on the ability to communicate effectively with aboriginal communities? Thank you.