I look forward to more discussions in that area and how we’re going to have a well laid out plan as to some of the issues with regard to the decentralization and devolution. I want to say to the Minister and staff of Human Resources, along with the Government of the Northwest Territories, being one of the recipients of one of the top 100 employers in Canada, you are in very good company with a good quality of other groups that receive this award. My hats off to the Human Resources staff to make that happen.
Mr. Minister, I want to talk to you about the Aboriginal Employees Strategy and the numbers that we are seeing within the GNWT with regard to Aboriginal people working within the Government of the Northwest Territories. I also support this strategy to see not only the issues that we have to
deal with in our communities and our regions, but how the strategy will support the community of Tulita or the Sahtu. They had 33 graduates last year from Grade 12. It would be good if we had a strong strategy that would say take these 33 future leaders and we’re going to move them, if we have advertising that would want these students or a percentage of these students moving to the GNWT workforce. We are competing with oil companies, Aboriginal governments and other private sectors that will take a percentage of these students who are graduating from Grade 12 in the Sahtu and say, we’re going to move you into our workforce. I’m hoping the Aboriginal strategy will take a grounding approach and start working with these students. That’s the risk. Sometimes we train our people so well that oil companies or Aboriginal governments will take them away. That’s the reality in the small communities. We can count on our hands how many positions the government has. That’s a reality. There’s only so much to go around.
Mr. Minister, would you be able to provide that type of solid, regional type of training plan that we can proudly say to our graduates we, as a government, have a plan for you? If you choose to come and work for us, we will take care of you, just like the former Premier of the Northwest Territories spoke at the Teacher Education Program. He said, if you graduate from the Teacher Education Program, we’re going to have a job in one of our schools in our communities; or the Nursing Program, students who go to the Aurora College Nursing Program. We’re going to put you in one of our communities, if you choose to, or work at Stanton Hospital. I’m looking forward to that type of result from this Minister and his staff in the life of this government, so I can go back to the Sahtu, speak at the graduation ceremony and say that we prepared that and we have a strategy that will work. Thank you, Madam Chair.