Thank you. Minister.

First of all, Mr. Chair, I want to say that there have been no financial reductions at the corrections facilities that I am aware of, and I also understood that senior staff are meeting with corrections officers on a regular basis to inform them of any changes in programming. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. The question was regarding policy changes. Mr. Goldney.

Thank you. Mr. Testart.

Thank you. I will just conclude that. Previous to what is going on now, has the frequency changed? What I am getting at is: are we doing anything differently from before these changes went in place? Is there any way that they can provide some details on how they have made a meaningful change in how communication is going from headquarters to the facility? It is fine to hear we are doing a better job, but in the absence of policy or numbers in this budget, I would like some assurances. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. The time has expired, but I will allow the witnesses to respond. Minister.

Yes, I understand that there are more meetings between senior staff and corrections officers than there once were. Hopefully, these problems, if they are problems, won't recur in the future. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We had a lot of discussion last calendar year on a number of events that happened, and now we are discussing the physical budget for the coming year for this department.

I get the feeling, and if the Minister could confirm: is there an in-house program review being conducted to include, and I would encourage, I would say, three operational components to this review? One is rehabilitation programming delivery, reintegration program delivery, and looking at the staff of the department.

The staff could include a succession plan here. As the Minister will recall, we had a long-service award ceremony on February 8th. If some of the staff individuals, employees, are getting to the year of their retirement, we should include a succession plan for the staff component of this in-house program review. Will the Minister confirm if there is one being done? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Yes, of course, the issue of succession planning is very important. I know that every year or few years there are no graduates of the program who have decided to pursue a career in corrections. There is succession planning from that point of view. Perhaps I will let the deputy minister expand on that a bit. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Goldney.

Thank you. Mr. McNeely.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for the reply there. I look forward to, as we move forward, progress reports from the department or briefings on the progress that is being made for program delivery. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. McNeely. That was more of a comment. Next, I have Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in this section, there are almost 250 employees. I was wondering if the department has an affirmative action plan to increase the number of priority one candidates in the public service in this particular section. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.

Yes. Of course, we follow the direction of the territorial government with respect to affirmative action programs. I understand that, of the 329, which includes relief workers, there are 119 Indigenous Aboriginal, 57 Indigenous non-Aboriginal, and 153 non-Aboriginal. Yes, we would like to increase the number of Indigenous Aboriginal corrections officers. We do make efforts to encourage them to apply.

I don't think we are too much different from the government as a whole. We follow the same policies. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the individuals who are in corrections, the inmates, the majority of inmates, I believe, are in Indigenous inmates. I felt that it would be a good opportunity for Indigenous employees who will be working in the corrections facilities, and even in as far as coming from the communities where the individuals are incarcerated, as they would know each other, and so on.

Aside from just following the Affirmative Action Policy, which has been basically a program that has just failed all the time forever, it's been, I think, the numbers that are around 30 per cent. That roughly sounds like about 30 per cent from what the Minister just said, although I didn't calculate it. It sounds like it's about that area. I know that they have a program where they bring correction officers into the mix, but a more interactive approach to trying to actually work on getting the numbers up, other than just following a policy that has been failing this government for years.

I'd like to know if there's anything other than saying we follow the Affirmative Action Policy at GNWT to fill positions, if there's anything other than that from corrections from this section. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I did mention, we do follow the lead of the territorial government and our numbers are probably somewhat similar to their success rates, if I can put it that way. Overall, certainly we would be always interested in looking at new approaches to increase those numbers, but as I say, currently we're following the general lead of the territorial government with respect to its Affirmative Action Policy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.