Thank you, Madam Chair. The exact numbers as of December 31, 2014, across the public service was 31.1 percent indigenous Aboriginal persons. In senior management, it is indigenous Aboriginal persons in senior management, 18.2 percent of the public service. Specifically in Human Resources, indigenous Aboriginal persons, 34.2 percent, and indigenous Aboriginal persons in senior management, 30 percent.
On the regional recruitment, it’s a program, I believe, that does have merit. We felt that it would be a program that would increase the Aboriginal content of the public service for sure, but the way in which we rolled it out, I think the uptake was not what we thought it would be. The responsibility and the way that the hiring process went, it seemed like once we identified a position for competition and then we went into a competition and if we felt that there was that specific job could have potential for regional recruitment, it was after we had gone through all of the steps and then we would consider looking at a regional recruitment process.
What we’re doing now is up front, at the screening. Where we think we’ll achieve success is that up front we’re now deciding prior to going through the recruitment or interview process. Once we go through the screening and we’re finding that the Aboriginal candidates are very close to screening into the job, instead of now saying, well, this
number is 60 percent and if you go below 60 percent you fail the screening, what we’re doing is going back to the department as the HR people, going back to the department and asking the department to look at regional recruitment for this position, and individuals that may have screened lower than what the requirements are could still be eligible to get into that position with an element or a portion of their salary going to training them up to meet all the responsibilities within that position. We think we will have success.
We have the Aboriginal Management Development Program. We use direct appointments. We have an advisory council, Aboriginal Employee Advisory Committee, and we have just completed a survey, working with, I can’t remember the name of the organization at this time, the Aboriginal Human Resource Council. We also have Aboriginal and cultural awareness training in the public service. We’re hoping that many of these programs and initiatives across the government led by Human Resources will increase our numbers.
To answer the question of both the Members that we do anticipate that once the accountability framework rolls out in all the departments at all levels that we will see an increase in the Aboriginal content in the public service.