Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak about Northerners and Aboriginals getting jobs with the Government of the Northwest Territories. But firstly, it was good to hear that the shared services and long-term Aboriginal employees were addressed in the House yesterday. This government should be investing in Aboriginals and Northerners. We should be proud to have them in our public service. I think it would be a proud day when we can finally say the GNWT has a truly representative workforce.

Sadly, well-qualified Northerners and Aboriginals, P1 candidates, are still be screened out of job competitions, so who is the government trying to hire for these new jobs, I ask. Our government is not delivering when it comes to Aboriginal employment and hiring. We should be hosting job fairs in our communities, not only down south. Yes, I know our population is low and inviting people north is a good strategy, but I simply feel that we can increase our tax base by hiring more northern and Aboriginal employees.

The government has to stop over-qualifying our entry jobs, stop minimizing the years of experience that our Northerners have, and start hiring them. Thank you very much.