Masi, Madam Speaker. [Translation] There are a lot of workers in the Northwest Territories. There are approximately 5,000 employees. Not only that, but we have a lot of workers all over the place, Indigenous and Inuit, Metis people. They are hired by who they are, and sometimes in the Northwest Territories, people are hired differently. [Translation ends] [Microphone turned off] ...single source of work in the Northwest Territories. It is the largest single employer of the Indigenous people. That makes our government absolutely essential for informing the policies of Indigenous people. No matter how you look at it, our Indigenous people look to our government for work and opportunity.

Madam Speaker, it's not only to keep food on tables of our Dene, Inuvialuit, and Metis people. It's also to ensure that our government reflects on the values and cultures of our people. This is why I'm so troubled by the current underrepresentation of the Indigenous people of our government. Indigenous people make up 50 percent of this population of the Northwest Territories, but they make up only 30 percent of the GNWT workforce. It's been stuck at the low rate for so long, Madam Speaker, decades and decades. It's time that our government got serious about fixing this disparity. It's time that we tackle the root cause.

This talk about education, because education is the key to employment and, as we all know, Indigenous Northerners trail behind non-Indigenous on the education front, both in high school and post-secondary. Until we deal with this education gap, the deck will remain stacked against the Indigenous seeking work in our government. Some people think the education gap will not be solved in our lifetime. They think it's big, too big, too complex, but Madam Speaker, they're totally wrong. Break a big problem down to component parts, it's not a big problem at all. The education gap is no different. It is underrepresented of our people in our government.

Madam Speaker, here is a real example drawn from this government's stats. The problem of underrepresentation is really a huge challenge of male representation. Female representation in the GNWT is within acceptable limits. In fact, Indigenous male employment, that's the culprit. They have half the employment rate of women. Indigenous men make up nine percent of total GNWT workforce. Nine percent, Madam Speaker. I will have questions to the Minister of Finance pertaining to this. Masi.