Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Your final supplementary, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in closing, a final question. This is important and timing is essential on this. The reserves are trying to increase their number up to 100 in the next couple of years. If we don’t put this in place soon, there will be disincentives for individuals that are considering joining the reserves due to the uncertainty about protection of themselves as well as their employers. I’m wondering if we can get the Minister to commit to get some action on this file

right away and, hopefully, get a legislative proposal in front of committee in the life of this government so we can see something either late in the life of this government or very early in the life of the next Assembly. This does have value. It will help create incentives and it will help protect employers and reservists today, tomorrow and in the future. Now that we have reservists in the Northwest Territories, it seems like now is the right time. Will the Minister commit to getting some action on this in the life of this government? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I believe in due time that will happen, whether it be the end of this government or early next government, but we do have that information that we need to share with the standing committee and providing that and possibly delivering a legislative proposal as the next step. I have committed that to the Member already. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Mr. Clerk.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, reports of standing and special committees. Item 13, reports of committee on the review of bills. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure has reviewed Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Dog Act. The committee wishes to report that Bill 16 is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Item 14, tabling of documents. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 4-16(5), Report on the Review of the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner; and GNWT Response to Committee Report 6-16(5), Report on the Review of the Auditor General on Education in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following documents entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 5-16(5), Report on the Review of the 2008-2009 Annual Report of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Also, Mr. Speaker, further to my Return to Written Question 17-16(5), I wish to table the following three documents entitled Aboriginal Student Achievement 2010-2011 and 2011-2012; Aboriginal Student Achievement Project Proposal 2010-2011; and Aboriginal Student Achievement Initiative Logic Model. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Northwest Territories Community Futures Program 2009-2010 Annual Report. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 5, 2010-2011; and Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2010-2011. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table a document entitled Report re Fiscal and Self-Government Issues in Connection with Devolution, prepared for Richard Nerysoo, president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council in Inuvik, by Peter Eglington and Lew Voytilla, dated January 25, 2011. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to table a copy of An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act from the Government of the Yukon from 2009. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 15, notices of motions. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment devise a certificate program to certify elders to teach in NWT schools in time for the start of the new school year in the fall of 2011. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 16, notices of motion for first reading of bills. Item 17, motions. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

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.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I bring this motion to the floor in my continuing effort to improve the prospects of persons with disabilities for employment within the GNWT.

At the moment, as I have stated, the known percentage of persons with a disability in our territorial government workforce is just 0.5 percent. It is quite likely that that number in actually is much higher, but, as is often mentioned by the Minister of Human Resources, our statistics rely on GNWT employees self-identifying as a person with a disability. The first action of this motion seeks to change that. It seeks to establish a reliable, trustworthy, confidential tool to measure the number of persons with a disability in our workforce. Without an accurate measurement of the number of persons with a disability, we really don’t know how to design an improvement program. I am somewhat surprised that an analysis to that effect has not already been done.

The second action of the motion asks the government to reassess the hiring priority lists that we now use for affirmative action. This motion does not ask for an evaluation of the Affirmative Action Policy. Opening up that policy is fraught with difficulties and complications, but the priority lists are not in the policy; they are laid out in the Human Resources Manual. We can examine those lists with a view to see if they are still relevant, to see if they are still achieving their intended purpose.

We do give some priority to persons with disabilities via these lists, but I believe it is not enough and that change is needed. Let me give you an example. Consider a job competition between two P1 candidates who have been evaluated and are considered equals for the competition; that is they both have the same skills and experience. One of them is a person with a disability, but according to GNWT policy and procedure, that P1 with a disability does not have any priority over the other non-disabled person.

Research indicates that persons with a disability have a much harder time finding and gaining employment than those who do not. Presumably that is why the Affirmative Action Policy lists persons with a disability as a priority for GNWT hiring. This motion recommends that that priority be recognized and that the person with a disability in my example be given preference and rated higher than the other P1 candidate. But the current language in the HR manual precludes that.

Mr. Speaker, I have to ask: when was the last time that our priority list was thoroughly evaluated? I have to emphasize the word “thoroughly.” When have we undertaken an honest, open and extensive review? It is time to take a long, hard look at those lists.

There are at least two changes that I believe are necessary. Firstly, we have two priority lists, Mr. Speaker, one for management in non-traditional occupations competitions and another for all other competitions. But persons with a disability in the management in non-traditional occupations priority list are rated lower in priority than women. They should have at least equal priority, in my view. As well, we need to amend our procedures to allow priorities to be cumulative, as was evident in the example I gave. If it is the goal of this government to have a representative public service, then the Department of Human Resources and this government must consider whether or not the current priority lists encourage and enable the GNWT to achieve that goal.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to acknowledge and recognize the efforts of the current Minister of Human Resources and the staff of the Department of Human Resources to increase the number of persons with a disability in the GNWT workforce. I appreciate that they have recognized the deficiency in our numbers and they are taking steps to try and fix it. I have been pleased to see some of the changes that have taken place in the last year or so. With that said, there is more that must be done to really affect the change that is so necessary. Once an analysis is done, then the Human Resources 20/20 plan can be amended to implement any indicated change. That is what this motion asks for.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues agree with me that persons with a disability deserve a higher hiring priority than what we now give them. I hope my colleagues will vote in support of this motion with me. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.