Mr. Speaker, that's one of the things that we're trying to do across the Northwest Territories. We've been holding different cancer sharing circles throughout the Northwest Territories, with different groups, working with organizations like the Gwich'in to try to get those sharing circles out to different communities. I believe we had one in Aklavik.

We want to keep doing this type of thing, where we're working with the communities, trying to find things that work with the communities but also give people who have cancer an opportunity to share and have some people to share their experiences with, people who have a lived experience who can talk about the frustrations they had, the fears they had, but also the successes they had and where they were able to get support and help. Once again,

I would strongly encourage people to take a look at our website, the cancer website, where there's a lot of this information, very detailed, in there that they can go and figure out what's happening and figure out who they might want to talk to.

If people are worried that they might have a chronic condition or cancer, please go to your Well Woman, Well Man clinics. Please go to the health centres and talk to the resident practitioners, whether it's a nurse practitioner, community health nurse, or visiting doctor. So talking is important, but they also need to get out and talk to the practitioners if they're worried. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I ask these questions to try to bring awareness to cancer and also, at the same time, to the public to be more educated in terms of understanding this plight that affects lots of people in the NWT. The Minister encourages the public to, you know, refer to their website, but, at the same time, not everybody has an opportunity in terms of basic access to the Internet, including the website that he refers to.

Many Northerners volunteer for many different anti-cancer organizations but can feel frustrated when high cancer rates continue to affect themselves, their friends, and their families. What is the department's role in coordinating cancer awareness, screening, and research efforts across the NWT? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Member's point. Yes, not everybody has access to the Internet, but the information is out there in other means. There are paper copies which sometimes are as hard to get to the constituents and residents as digital. I understand that. We are making sure that information is available in our health centres, or health stations, our regional hospitals, our hospitals, so that individuals who have questions can get a hold of that information in paper.

Through the strategic cancer initiative, we're working with organizations and creating partnerships with places like University of Alberta, who are helping us design programs and bringing, in fact, some southern dollars into the mix to help us do creative new things at a community level as far as creating awareness, getting involved, getting the message out to residents.

At the same time, I'm happy and willing at any time to sit down with Members and take your input, feedback, on areas where you think we might be missing the target...and where we can improve the way we're getting the message out there. I believe we have a bunch of the information we need. We have a lot of good programs. We need to work together to make sure that our constituents have that information and I'm absolutely committed to working with you and all Members to make sure that information is getting to the people who need it, when they need it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. Oral Questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

The department won't be putting a nurse in the community of Tsiigehtchic. It will actually be the Territorial Health and Social Services Authority. I can't tell the Member the exact date that they expect somebody will be going in there, but I'm happy to follow up on the Member's behalf, get him that information, and get him a concrete date.

You know, in the future, it's very important that we have a set date. I noticed the last couple of years we've been waiting for the ice conditions. The ferry is almost shut down on the side of Tsiigehtchic before the nurse is actually put in place. So just for the future, maybe we could set a date, whether it's October 15^th, for example. Will the Minister please pass this on to the Health Authority?

Traditionally, as the Member has indicated, it's sort of been based on what the weather is suggesting, whether freeze-up is early or late. But I hear the Member and there might be some value in having set, fast dates so that the community has some certainty. I certainly think there is some merit to that.

I will certainly talk with the department and the authority to see what it would take to set some hard and fast dates so that the community can have some certainty. I don't know what that date might be. The Member has thrown out October 15^th; that may or may not be appropriate based on, you know, averages of freeze-up. But, you know what, there is some merit there. I will certainly have a conversation with the department to see what it would take to make that happen.

While we're at it, maybe October 1^st would work better.

---Laughter

Actually, the other point I wanted to raise was, usually the nurses are in the community until December 15^th about, usually about the time the ferry access is open to Tsiigehtchic. The community has noticed that, last year, because of the crossing being put across at the Arctic Red first, the community noticed that the nurse had been taken out of the community earlier than usual, so they are very concerned and would like the department to have the nurse there until the same time, roughly December 15^th?

I can't be aware of every specific decision that the authorities make, and I couldn't tell you when they chose to remove a nurse from a community, but I do hear the Member. Similar to his previous question about setting a set date for coming in, there might also be some value in having a set date for when an individual, a nurse, might cease their permanent stay in that community. I think that we could have that conversation at the same time, and I'm willing to do so.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. While we do have a couple of weeks left here in session, so maybe I'll save this question for the Minister later and make sure we have a concrete date by the end of session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Masi. I'll take that as a comment. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I made a Member's statement on suggestions on the Affirmative Action Policy of the GNWT. I would like to ask the Minister of Human Resources questions. I would like to ask the Minister if Human Resources have the staff to ensure that the departments are serious about applying the Affirmative Action Policy? Thank you.

Masi. Minister of Human Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Looking at the numbers of the affirmative action employees across the GNWT, and I believe we have about 1,608, that's a good indication that our government and the departments are serious about applying affirmative action into the positions that they open. However, having said that, I've also, in my initial briefing with the department when I first got Human Resources, I made it quite clear that I would be watching very closely the number of affirmative action employees that were hired. I want to make it quite clear, though, that a lot of these employees, I want them to be hired, put into positions, based on merit. We have a lot of good employees out there with a lot of good qualifications. Thank you.

I would like to ask the Minister, when having discussions with department heads or staff of HR, if there is any sort of plan to develop a strategy to move the affirmative action numbers, which have been kind of stuck around 30 per cent for many years? I would like to know if the Minister has talked about any specific strategies that might change that number?

I think one of the best strategies is to encourage our young Aboriginal people out there to get the training that's necessary so we can get them into the system and put processes in place where they can succeed based on the qualifications and the work ethic and everything else that they bring to the position. What other strategies are we working on? We have the Aboriginal Management Development Program. Right now we have, I believe, about 16 per cent of our Indigenous Aboriginal senior employees who are eligible to retire immediately. We have 52 per cent who are eligible to retire with a full pension within the next five years. So it's very important that we start developing a lot of good Aboriginal employees and get them into the system and try and move them through the system based on merit and the qualifications and work ethic they bring to the job.

Earlier this week I talked a bit about - or possibly last week I talked a bit about the Regional Recruitment Program. I'd like to ask the Minister if the Regional Recruitment Program is targeting priority one candidates?

As you can tell from the numbers that I quoted last week, it is targeted. We have a lot of P1 candidates, I think it was 24 of the 32, that have taken us up on it, so that's a good indication that they are targeted.

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thought the Regional Recruitment Program was actually inclusive of only priority one candidates, but that's my misunderstanding. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister have a discussion with the Premier about putting some sort of measurable evaluation in the department heads' evaluation that will indicate successes and failures within the Affirmative Action Policy on their job evaluations? Thank you.

I could have that conversation with the Premier. I'll also have a conversation with all my colleagues. You know, we hear the concerns in the House. We actually hear the concerns from the people out there about the fact that sometimes they feel like they have an unfair disadvantage trying to move through the system.

I want to make sure that all our employees, our Aboriginal employees, and those who are thinking of coming into the public service come in with the understanding is if they come in and they put in some good work and have some good training and add a lot of value then that will be recognized and they will get an opportunity to move through the system. I want to make it my goal to ensure that they have a fair opportunity to work through the system with the qualifications and the values they bring to the organization.