Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the vision of the 16
th
Legislative
Assembly is “strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories;”
AND WHEREAS one of the goals of the 16
th
Legislative assembly is “effective and efficient government” to be achieved, in part, through improved human resource management practices;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories Public Service Strategic Plan titled “20/20: A Brilliant North” has a goal “to establish a public service that represents our diverse cultures” with a supporting objective to promote the Affirmative Action Policy through “the development and advancement of designated groups;”
AND WHEREAS the government remains committed to a competent public service that is representative of the population it serves;
AND WHEREAS the 2009 Public Service Annual Report indicates that persons with disabilities make up only 0.5 percent of the GNWT workforce;
AND WHEREAS, according to the 2006 Statistics Canada survey, approximately 8.2 percent of the NWT workforce aged 18 to 65 are persons with disabilities;
AND WHEREAS anecdotal evidence consistently shows that persons with disabilities encounter more hiring difficulties than the general population;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that the GNWT
develop a reliable, trustworthy and confidential measuring tool to verify the percentage of persons with a disability within the GNWT workforce;
AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories reassess and, if necessary, revise the staffing priorities assigned to the affirmative action groups identified in Section 101 of the GNWT Human Resources Manual to ensure the priority assigned to persons with disabilities relative to the other groups is in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Affirmative Action Policy and is adequate to support the goal of a representative public service;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the GNWT develop a plan to ensure that the percentage of persons with a disability employed by this government be maintained at, or increased to, no less than 5 percent of the total workforce within five years of the date of this motion;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the government report back to this Assembly within 120 days as to the government’s plan to achieve the goals of this motion, and each five years thereafter.
Thank you.