This is page numbers 3475 – 3500 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 5th 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 positions.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

The Chinese will tell you this is the year of the horse. Well, I tell you once again, this is the year of Cabinet, again. I will encourage all my regular colleagues to vote against this budget until we see solid initiatives represented, pushed forward, moved forward by our MLAs, by the public’s wishes.

In closing, the Finance Minister says he wants to do things differently, so I encourage him to start listening to Members. That would be different.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Norman Yakeleya

Norman Yakeleya Sahtu

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I’ve listened to the Finance Minister and went through the budget address and looked at some of the highlights, I was quite pleased with some of the initiatives happening in the Northwest Territories, certainly the long-held dream of Cece McCauley in Norman Wells on the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the work towards that, and the government is responding to the oil and gas activity in the Sahtu and other areas around the Northwest Territories that the government is responding with the fiscal restraint that we’re operating under. Of course, the new day for us will be devolution on April 1st in a

couple of months from now.

I’m very surprised and, like Mrs. Groenewegen talked about, there was some creativity with this budget here. I was shockingly surprised to see that there were hundreds of vacant positions within the government. Every year we come to this part of our Assembly and we approve positions, and the government has said there were hundreds of

vacant positions. We approve it, but the money… I don’t know where the money goes. I’m not sure what the exact number is and how many positions are vacant and how much money that relates to, but we should have some discussion because some of our requests don’t quite make the table through the budget address, as one of my colleagues mentioned.

I want to raise that as an alarming concern of the positions that we, as a government, have not yet quite figured out on the efficiency and the effectiveness of government when we have hundreds of vacant positions within our government. That money is approved, it’s there within the departments, but we don’t see the end result of it. What happens to it? We’re asking for positions in our small communities and we’re always asking for these positions, can we get this position, and they keep saying no, there’s no money or it doesn’t quite meet the standards.

So I wanted to say to the government that we’re paying attention over here and we’ll be asking some hard questions the next couple of weeks.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

GNWT Career Fairs
Members’ Statements

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Human Resources recently held a career fair in Ottawa highlighting opportunities related to devolution. It is an exciting time to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories and I’m sure this initiative attracted attention and maybe even some prospective employees, but this news is discouraging to residents in some of our small communities.

During the career fair I heard from a Mackenzie Delta constituent who has been unemployed since June. She holds a diploma in office administration and is ready to work, but there are no jobs in her community. She makes her living there and it doesn’t make sense for her to leave. The lack of work is draining our small communities.

Another problem is that many government positions that are advertised often include the condition that applicants live within a certain distance of the job’s location. That requirement can easily mislead potential employees who are willing to relocate.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has invested a lot of effort into this Human Resource Strategy. Last year it was recognized as one of Canada’s top 100 employers and named one of Canada’s best diversity employers. If offers generous compensation and benefits packages, excellent health, wellness and professional development opportunities, but these things are

only enjoyed by those who are already in, unlike my constituent.

I ask why we focus on hiring people from the South when we fail to develop opportunities for our own people in the North. Our residents hear promises of new jobs related to devolution. They want to know what that means to them, for them. Our people are looking for work and the population of the Northwest Territories is declining. We need to make more of an effort to reach capable individuals in the communities. We should continually review our actions to strengthen the public service and recruit and retain Aboriginal people. Our career fairs need to target Northerners and showcase all that our regions have to offer. It is the only way to develop vibrant communities and people who are healthy, educated and employed.

GNWT Career Fairs
Members’ Statements

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Blake. The Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Passing Of Joseph Lloyd Sanderson
Members’ Statements

February 5th, 2014

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to pay tribute to the late Joseph Lloyd Sanderson of Fort Resolution, better known as Joe-Joe.

Joe-Joe Sanderson was born March 24, 1958, and passed away on December 7, 2013, at 55 years old. Joe-Joe died of natural causes.

Joe Sanderson was born and raised in Fort Resolution. He attended Grandin College in Fort Smith. Joe was a very athletic person growing up and at one time he was an excellent golden gloves boxing champion in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. But Joe Sanderson was more than that; he was a tremendous athlete. Joe Sanderson was better than everybody in his age category and older in the school in track and field, floor hockey, baseball and fastball. He was an unbelievable athlete.

Joe worked at the sawmill in Fort Resolution for a number of years and then moved to Pine Point where he became a truck driver and excavator operator until the mine shut down in the late 1980s. Joe also worked as a truck driver for a number of years at Diavik Diamond Mine.

Joe enjoyed being out on the land, and as a result, he became a member of the Fort Resolution Canadian Rangers Patrol in 1992 and was an active member until 2012, thereby dedicating 20 years of service to the Canadian Rangers.

Joe was predeceased by his parents, George and Judith Sanderson; siblings James Sanderson, Willie Sanderson and Cecile Sanderson; and nieces nephews Barry Sanderson, Cody Broadhead, Keith Digness, Gloria Sanderson, Karen Sanderson and baby Redvers. Joe is survived by his sisters Violet Broadhead, married to Barry; Katie Martin, married

to Lyle; Clara Redvers; Annie Digness, married to Gordon; brother Delmar Sanderson; son Jeremy Antoine; special friend Linda McKay; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

I pass my condolences on to the late Joseph Lloyd Sanderson’s son, sisters, brothers and many friends that he had in Fort Resolution.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Item 5, reports of standing and special committees. Item 6, returns to oral questions. Item 7, recognition of visitors in the gallery. I would like to welcome everybody in the House. Mr. Ramsay.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today marked the beginning of a new air service connecting three capital cities: Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Ottawa. I was at the airport earlier today with Minister Beaulieu. I would like to recognize a former Yellowknifer now living in Whitehorse, working for Air North. I would like to congratulate Air North for taking the lead on establishing this new route. That certainly is going to strengthen ties in tourism, government and business-related areas between the two territories. Thanks to Air North and welcome, Mr. Peart. Thank you.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

Bob McLeod

Bob McLeod Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Kevin Lewis, who is with CanNor here in Yellowknife.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery
Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 8, acknowledgements. Item 9, oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Human Resources. As I mentioned in my statement, the department had a career fair in Ottawa, so I would like to ask the Minister, what were some of the targets and early outcomes of the career fair in Ottawa? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had attended the career fair in Ottawa to raise awareness about the employment opportunities in the Northwest Territories, to attract people to the GNWT and advise people of the opportunities and advantages of living in the Northwest Territories as one of the strategies to try to increase our

population base and fill some positions that are otherwise difficult to fill. Thank you.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to ask the Minister, when is the government holding career fairs here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

We are having open houses at the Human Resource service centres we have across the territory. We had our very first open house in late November in the HR Service Centre in Fort Simpson, and we’re going to follow up with open houses in Inuvik, Norman Wells and Hay River this month. We are also going to have open houses in Yellowknife on March 12th and 13th ,

Fort Smith at the end of March, and on May 6, 2014, we will be having our last open house at the HR Service Centre in Behchoko. Thank you.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to hear they’re planning to have open houses in the regional centres, but what about the smaller communities in the outlying regions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

Mr. Speaker, in order to try to reach out to some of the small communities, the department has announced the Regional Recruitment Program. With that program, the department has also hired a regional recruitment specialist that is based in Fort Smith and will be working with all the HR service centres, and also the HR service centres will expand out into the smaller communities. Again, sending the same message out in the communities that the GNWT is available, we have vacant positions that we wish to fill and if people in the communities have the skills and abilities to fill those positions, we are going to give them the opportunity to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to ask the Minister, how does the department reach out to our Aboriginal population? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Tom Beaulieu

Tom Beaulieu Tu Nedhe

The department has the Aboriginal Management and Development Program where we are advancing people into associate positions. We are starting at the director/superintendent level where we are advancing six individual Aboriginals into those positions. It gives them a good key position to be able to reach out and try to attract other Aboriginal employees. In the mix, we are also trying to add – we don’t have the money in the budget yet – the next level down and have associate managers. So that’s something that the department will be putting forward to the government. We have an Aboriginal Advisory Committee chaired by one of our Aboriginal deputy ministers that watches over some of these activities, especially these key activities in

our attempt to attract more Aboriginal people into the public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about Canada’s recent decline on the global stage of our math performance. Coupled with what we already know about our extremely poor performance on our AAT Grade 9 math scores, the debate brewing between Discovery Learning and going back to basics is clearly circling the wagon at the recent launch of the Education Renewal and Innovation Initiative. My questions today will be for the Minister responsible, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Our math curriculum for years has been based on the Alberta model. Can the Minister indicate, with the pending ERI Initiative, what changes in math teachings in the NWT and what provincial curriculum will the NWT likely follow? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.