Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank my colleague Mr. Dolynny for bringing this motion to Committee of the Whole. It’s very small; it’s a one word motion. It has a lot of different viewpoints on it.
I wanted to say to Mr. Dolynny, this motion here certainly looks at the government as a whole and the appointments of the positions in HR. Certainly hearing the Minister talk about this one word here then means it has to go back to the unions for discussion, because the unions are part of it, and we’re going to come to have that kind of a delay here. That’s what I’m getting. The unions are part of this. That’s my understanding. If I’m wrong, correct me.
The issue of job shadowing is a good thing. Double filling is what you call it. It’s double double at Tim Horton’s but this is double filling. It’s a good thing because there are people in the Sahtu that are going to retire and I always ask, we have a young population that want to work, I have even asked one of the Ministers before, if we could have somebody job shadow somebody else because they have wealth of knowledge in that department. I would like to get a young person in there that’s in Aurora College right now, or in one of the small communities, to say they have an interest in that area, if could look at that, doing job shadowing. Increase that percentage of Aboriginal hire in the region.
I think there are processes and procedures, checks and balances. It is the integrity of the department, the integrity of the Minister how we do this. That is sometimes what gets questioned.
I would like to see those numbers from within the Government of the Northwest Territories increase in the Sahtu region. Bring them up. How long have we had the numbers that low? You may see a small increase, so anything we can do. I think the government is hearing some of our small communities talk about having fair representation of our government employees representing people in the regions. That’s a must. If I have 79 students in the Aurora College or any of the Aurora College learning centres, by golly, we have to tell them that there is hope there. Why do we tell them to go to school anyhow, to collect income assistance? Is that what we’re telling them?
Through any means, if it’s ethical, a high degree of integrity and that is on the Minister’s plate. You
know, if there is any stuff that we have suspicions, then the Ministers have to live with that. That’s where the buck stops. But I’m fighting for my people, the ones who are in school, to look at job shadowing. There are some people that they are going to be leaving their jobs and they are going to be feeling sad. To have someone else come in and work with them, I think that’s a good thing.
So positions, yes, that’s what I’m hoping for and I think the department is well aware of it right now through this side of the House here, what we are looking for. It is the Ministers who have that added responsibility. As you said, I want this job and we voted you in for that job, to a higher degree. We are held on this side for accountability and transparency, to say, is this it?
So this motion here gets you to wonder: are we going to increase the numbers? You heard us. Is it ethical? Does it have integrity? Is it solid? Is it process?
One of the Cabinet Ministers talked about legally, I think that you have to look at the moral issue. Morally is it okay, is it good? That’s why you have a lawyer, to look at it legally, make sure all the checks and balances are there. But as an MLA, it’s a moral obligation and that’s very frightful, making sure our people in the Sahtu, the northern people, that they can have a fair shot in special circumstances.
I have wanted to say, Mr. Dolynny, thanks for bringing forward this motion, to have me think about it. I think it’s a good, valid motion and at this time, right now, it has to be looked at carefully and I think that I’m going to agree with my colleague Mr. Blake to not support the motion because I think this motion is going to be something that’s in place that’s going to help my people. I am going to leave it to the Ministers. I am voting against this motion and I want to see that if it’s going to help our people. That’s all I want to say. We need it; we need it in the region. I hope our people in the department are listening and are going to be working hard to increase those numbers in the Sahtu region. Mahsi cho.