This is page numbers 5649 - 5680 of the Hansard for the 18th Assembly, 3rd 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 information. View the webstream of the day's session.

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Kevin O'Reilly

Kevin O'Reilly Frame Lake

Merci, Monsieur le President. I see that in the report. Maybe future reports are going to be a little bit clearer about the reporting under each of the subsections in section 8 of the Environmental Rights Act. I think the Minister, though, has made my point here. Given the issues of late reporting by the Minister under the Environmental Rights Act and the lack of use of the rights established under this legislation, what is the Minister doing to promote environmental rights in the Northwest Territories? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

As the Member is currently aware, amendments to the Environmental Rights Act have been proposed to make it easier to make an application for an investigation. Bill 39 is currently undergoing review by the Standing Committee on Economic Development and the Environment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Finance. The GNWT's Affirmative Action Policy dates back at least as far back as 1989, when it succeeded the Native Employment Policy. It was meant to even the playing field for Aboriginal people by giving us priority hiring opportunities when seeking employment with the GNWT. This was done out of a recognition that many Aboriginal people have faced systemic and other barriers to getting a good education and also when applying for a job. My question is: why has the Affirmative Action Policy not been updated in the last 30 years? What is preventing the GNWT from getting this done? Mahsi.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Finance.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, for one, have seen some of the benefits in my riding of the results of Affirmative Action, and I do support it. If it hasn't been reviewed for a while, I think there is an opportunity to do a review, but it has reached some of the goals that it was intended to. Across government-wide, I think the Member pointed out before, we have only 1,533 Affirmative Action employees. Outside the capital, we have about 1,100. It is about 46 percent of our workforce outside the capital are P1 candidates, getting closer to the 50 percent. As our people start to be more and more educated and get into some of these positions, I think we are going to see those numbers rise. I am sure if you go community by community, you will probably see a higher percentage of Indigenous/Aboriginal employees within the communities themselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

I think the Minister has stated that some aspects of the policy is working, but I didn't hear a commitment. Will the Minister commit to having his department bring forward innovative ideas from improving Aboriginal employment rights? As an example, what about an Aboriginal employee advocate who is tasked to work with management to assist interested Aboriginal employees seeking employment with the GNWT?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I am not sure if we have an actual advocate within the department. I am sure a number of our staff people are working, trying to improve the percentages across the Northwest Territories, but I do know that we have a number of innovative new initiatives that we have been bringing forward. We have one I spoke to yesterday where we would like to work with some of the Indigenous Governments, take on some of their employees, provide them an opportunity to build some capacity, then they go back and serve the people who they represent. There are opportunities. I do believe that we have a lot of opportunities within the government system to help those who want to move through the system.

Again, I have always been a firm believer in trying to improve the numbers. I think that we have seen the numbers improve; I am confident that we have seen the numbers improve. My biggest thing is that I want to see the move through the system based on merit, and we have a lot of really good people out there who are going through the system based on what they bring to the table. I wouldn't want to put somebody in a position because they are a P1 candidate just to a fill a quota and have them fail at it. It doesn't do us any good.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

My other question is: when the performance of deputy ministers is reviewed, are they graded on how successful they have been in reaching the Aboriginal employment targets that the policy is designed to reach?

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

The Premier is responsible for the discussions with the deputies, but I will assume that there are a number of goals that deputies have to achieve as part of their performance. Within the departments that I have had, I know that there are some opportunities in there for the deputies to try to improve the workforce and come up with new initiatives to improve the workforce. Again, I think we are getting there. I really think that we are getting there, and I believe that, in the future, there are going to be more and more Indigenous P1 representatives within the GNWT, but they will get there based on merit.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Michael Nadli

Michael Nadli Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is pretty clear that, yes, indeed, there should be a system to help Indigenous people, and I think that the Minister has clearly stated that it should be based on merit. I agree with that. Is it a standard employment practice that anyone applying for a GNWT job, anyone, must first write a written test? Are exceptions being made for Aboriginal people applying for jobs, especially in areas such as labour, where writing is not a required skill or, for example, where their Aboriginal language could be used? Mahsi.

Robert C. McLeod

Robert C. McLeod Inuvik Twin Lakes

I understand that there are some tests that applicants have to take. Like everyone else, they do the test to see if they qualify for the position, and if the qualify for the position, on top of being a P1 candidate, that would help them get to the next stage. I have seen cases where a number of Aboriginal people who were working within the system were doing some quality work, but didn't quite meet some of the qualifications that were required. I think that we have taken some steps to correct that. I have heard of cases where people were being brought in to do a job that the applicant in the same office, who had been doing it for a while, was not qualified to do; so who is tasked with training the new person coming in? The applicant who wasn't qualified to do the job. Thankfully things worked out at the end; the two people in the office did move into managerial positions because they had been doing that work for a long time, but based on the paper qualifications, they didn't really have them.

I think that that was a good case of applicants and our people moving through the system based on their ability to do the job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.

Question 748-18(3): Fort McPherson Elders Facility
Oral Questions

May 29th, 2019

Page 5665

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a couple of questions for the Minister responsible for Housing. I would like to ask the Minister: are we on schedule for the completion date of the elders home in Fort McPherson? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member for his Member's statement and recognizing that our elders are important. Allowing our elders to live in an area where they can continue practising and teaching our youth their cultures and traditions is very important. We are expecting to have the completion this summer, sometime in June. I don't have an exact date, but I will keep the Member, as well as the residents and the elders, updated so that we know when we can do the move-in. I just want to thank the community for their patience. I know that this was a project that was a little bit complicated, and we had to deal with it.

I want to thank the Member for bringing this up, and we will keep the Member updated so that he can keep his residents and elders updated as well. I don't have an exact date right now, but we are looking at sometime in June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

It is good that we are on track here. When does the department plan to have their grand opening?

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Once we have a firm date, we will let the Member, as well as community leaders, know that we will be opening it.

One thing that I do want to mention is the design that we did fix and change up. There has been a design for improved accessibility, high energy efficiency, as well as having a space for health and wellness programming. Once we do have a firm date for the opening, as I mentioned, we will have the elders, the community, and the leadership know when that day is. As usual, as the Member knows and Members around the table know, McPherson really does do a good job when we celebrate things as such.

Frederick Blake Jr.

Frederick Blake Jr. Mackenzie Delta

We know that we are going to finish the building in June. When will the department hire a caretaker? That way, that position is in place before the elders move in.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

As I mentioned, we are looking to open it next month. We are hoping that we will have elders into the eight units and have a caretaker in place. We will have to go through the regular process. As is tradition, we do have our people taking care of our people. As the Member noted in his Member's statement, our elders are very important, and we will have somebody capable to take that position on. As we progress through the opening and working with the seniors complex, we will keep the Member apprised, as well as the leadership in the community of Fort McPherson.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Cory Vanthuyne

Cory Vanthuyne Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I mentioned in my Member's statement, there is great potential for a polytechnic university to enhance our educational system, our economy, and our society in general.

Mr. Speaker, Arctic research and knowledge has an increasing profile in Canada and around the world, and in fact, last year, the federal government and Government of Quebec announced more than $53 million in funding for a new campus of the Institut nordique du Québec that will have a focus on Arctic research. I would like to ask the Minister: has the Minister begun any, call it, lobbying to the federal government for support for the development of the polytechnic university? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackson Lafferty

Masi. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Caroline Cochrane

Caroline Cochrane Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As for the term "lobbying," direct lobbying to build our polytechnic university, at this point, we have not. I know that the federal government is working with us. They just gave us $4 million, I believe, for the Centre for Mining and Industry in Fort Smith that was recently opened, which I attended just a couple of months ago. Word on the street is that they are actually looking at post-secondary universities in the north all over, so we are trying to get in on that team to find out what they are doing and what their interests are. Once we have an implementation plan developed and we have decided what types of canvas, student supports, et cetera, that we need, at that point, when we have a concrete ask, we will be approaching the federal government with an ask.

I'm very hopeful. I know that they are looking at us, and I also know that they have supported not only Quebec, but also the Yukon, with their post-secondary. We're in line. We're watching them closely, and we're hoping they're listening today.