This is page numbers 6687 - 6724 of the Hansard for the 16th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was students.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Minister of Human Resources

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can only say that great minds think alike. At this point the goal of the Government of the Northwest Territories is to have a representative workforce, which in this case we’re talking about Affirmative Action in which Aboriginal people represent about 50 percent of the Northwest Territories population. We’re also taking the same approach for persons with disabilities.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I have to ask the Minister how do we then bring more definition to that 50 percent. Is it 50 percent at any level of service in the public service? Is it a 50/50 split in management and directors and all these things? Don’t we need to do more as a government to create truly representative government by ensuring we have equal representation at all levels of government in all levels and positions? What are we doing to achieve that?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Minister of Human Resources

At this point, recognizing that as a government we’ve been flat-lined for at least 10 years where 31 percent of our 5,000-plus workforce is Aboriginal, we’re trying to get that moving upward. At some point when we come fairly close to 50 percent I think we could expand it into other areas. For example, we know that of our senior management component, 16 percent is Aboriginal. We have an even steeper hill to climb there. We can character the extreme. We have 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. Every community has varying percentages of Aboriginal people. It’s not our objective to have a representative workforce at the community level; we’re going to have it at the territorial level.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

I’m glad the Minister clarified that, because that is a very important point. How do we then, as a government, reconcile the fact that most government jobs are centralized in the capital and the regional centres where the majority of the people are not Aboriginal? The majority of the Aboriginal people, on a percentage basis, are outside; perhaps don’t want to move to a

regional centre or to Yellowknife. I mean, are our goals realistic, given those factors?

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Minister of Human Resources

I believe that our goals are realistic. I think that with our education system and the fact that we’re having more Aboriginal people attending post-secondary education institutions, we’re seeing graduation rates increasing. We look at our summer student rates, for example, where we’re finally getting where 50 percent of our summer students are Aboriginal. We’re working on that area. I think it’s going to take some time. Some of the initiatives that were undertaken with our Aboriginal Affirmative Action Advisory Committee I think are putting us in the right direction. With the next government I think we’ll be looking at more accountability with the senior management of the various departments so that we’ll continue to work to increase our representation in the public service.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Jane Groenewegen

Jane Groenewegen Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is such a complex issue. We as a government say that we want sustainable, prosperous communities, yet we don’t talk about decentralization. We don’t talk about taking those public service jobs and moving them out of the capital. We don’t look at departments and activities that can take place in the smaller communities. We don’t look at that. That would change the numbers of our representative workforce quite dramatically if people didn’t have to move to Fort Smith or Yellowknife to get a government job. I’d like to ask the Minister if he sees us looking at that issue of decentralization as one of the means of achieving that more representative workforce, by taking the jobs to the communities as opposed to expecting the people to come to the larger centres.

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Minister of Human Resources

Going back over a number of governments, there have been a number of attempts at decentralization and there have been successful initiatives to decentralize. I can think of the health care cards to Inuvik; I can think of the forestry division to Hay River, amongst others. I think that the last time a government took a serious look at decentralization it only got to a certain point, because you wind up with winners and losers. You have communities that lose jobs and other communities benefitting.

I think the best chance there is for decentralization is with devolution. We have to make sure that the jobs go where it is most feasible to operate. To decentralize comes with costs. We have to make sure that we have the people where they can do the most effective and efficient job.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in my Member’s statement I spoke about the all-weather road from Tuk to Inuvik and how badly it’s needed to get employment into the riding of Inuvik, and Tuk, and Aklavik, and Sachs Harbour and Paulatuk. We need this project to go. Does the Minister have a plan on when he’ll be meeting with his federal counterpart in Ottawa?

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is not wasting any time getting on top of the subject. The Minister was just announced, I think four hours ago.

We already, as I’ve indicated, have been working on a draft for some correspondence to go to the Minister. We are trying to encourage them to look to the North as a place for investment. There has been a lot of tension and there has been some good promises made during the last term of our government. We are inviting him to come to the Northwest Territories to meet with us. We’ve also asked for some time to sit down and talk to him about some of our priorities. We’re hoping that correspondence will go out ASAP.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Just to remind the federal government that they did promise this road in that first budget and they should stand by their word. What’s the status on the environmental review process on the Tuk-Inuvik highway?

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The project, in terms of where it’s at with the environmental review process, we expect that the draft environmental impact statement will be delivered to the review board by the end of the month. We also have information on that statement that provides details on engineering and environmental impacts. It’s a fairly large document, I think about a thousand pages, and very comprehensive. The statement also lays out the next steps. That includes initiatives such as public hearings.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Is the department planning any additional work this coming summer?

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

The answer is yes, there is a lot of work that still has to be done. We are planning a comprehensive summer program. The work that needs to be done includes fisheries studies, wildlife surveys, things of that nature. This information will supplement the work that’s already been done. We still need to provide that type of information to get our authorities and permits, and the things that we will require to move forward.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once that process is done -- hopefully we could end that by the end of July or August -- then can we start working this winter?

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

There’s a lot of ifs in that question that we need to resolve. First of all we need to see what is in the new federal budget. Does it include dollars for this section of highway that the Member is referring to. We also would need to see the results from the review board. We’d also require all necessary authorities, authorizations, permits. There’s lots of work to do. If there’s any work that would be done on the section of highway, it would probably be the final portions that need to be completed on the Tuk gravel access road that we’ve been working on for several years.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

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

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I spoke of the issues of tax arrears and lease arrears on the land in Tu Nedhe communities. Right now the elders are afraid that they’re going to lose their homes and so on. I’m getting calls from elders every month that get bills asking to pay right away.

This is for the Finance Minister. If the Finance Minister -- because the bills are coming from Finance -- could have officers go to visit the elder homeowners in Tu Nedhe to discuss their tax arrears with them. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Minister of Finance

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would be happy to talk to the Member outside the Chamber to look at this issue in more detail and some possible options or plan of action that would possibly help address this longstanding issue. Thank you.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, it’s good I’d have a discussion with the Minister. For me, I can give him a lot of information, a lot of detail, but one of the big issues seems to be that there’s an accumulation of taxes, due to what I spoke of. There’s a common feeling in Tu Nedhe that they shouldn’t be paying taxes until the land resources and government negotiations are complete. Will the Minister direct his staff to write off the interest on the taxes and then deal with the principal at a later date? But at this point, write the interest off? Thank you.