Minister of Finance, can you repeat that? You didn't have the microphone.

I'm sorry. Eight, Madam Speaker.

I do view this as a tool that ultimately allows many of our public servants, the majority of which are in Yellowknife, to get into our communities to work with Indigenous governments. I believe partnerships could work the other way, where we bring Indigenous governments, employees into the public service. I think we in this House agree that self-government is the future, but we also need to build that agreement and understanding within both bureaucracies. My question for the Minister of Finance is: is she willing to put together something and reach out to our Indigenous governments and make sure they are aware and are willing to partnership on this tool we have?

Yes. I'm glad to hear that. I think part of my reason for talking about this is just so that everyone in the public service listening, knows that they can go to their management and asked to be placed in an Indigenous government for a period of time, that they can go into the communities and get first-hand experience because, as much as I think cultural awareness training is a step in the right direction, there's really nothing that replaces going to work for an Indigenous government and seeing their struggles. Is the Minister willing, as part of our whole public service renewal and a number of initiatives that we are doing, to set targets for secondments?

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.

No further questions, Madam Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Finance.

I am glad the Minister brought up the target. I think it's very important to have each department have targets. When I talk about Indigenous male, eight, nine percent within GNWT. That is very low considering that 50 percent population of Aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories, only 30 percent of our workforce is Aboriginal. Out of that, only eight to nine percent male. It is disappointing to see those stats. It's been there a long time now. I talk about decades. I'd like to ask the Minister of Finance if there could be established targets within each department to specifically hire those individuals within the Indigenous hiring; more specifically when I touch on male because we need to increase that number, as well.

I'm glad the Minister is committed to providing those targets within each department. It's very important that we increase our Indigenous workforce within GNWT. Enough of talking about the 30 percent over the last 20, 30 years. Just put that into action. Within the life of this Assembly, I would love to see an increase in Aboriginal representation from 30 to 40, 50 percent, whatever the case is. I'm glad the Minister's committing to that. Our sister territory of Nunavut understands the problem of under representation of Indigenous male workforce, especially in the public service. That government had embarked on an aggressive strategy to empower young Inuit males to help them succeed in aspiration of a work environment. Is the Minister aware of those Nunavut government initiatives? Has she been paying attention to Nunavut approach to this issue, the challenge that we're faced with?

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

Masi, Madam Speaker. I'm glad that the Minister will be taking those best practices into consideration. My question is: when can we see those adaptations into our current policy within the department or departments in the GNWT? Madam Speaker, masi.

The work is already under way, and it is my expectation that both the framework and implementation plans for departments will be completed within the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest were pleased with the new regulations on school admissions, though a few issues remain outstanding. First, can the Minister tell us why GNWT persists in its appeals of the two court decisions on refused admissions under the former ministerial directive? Why don't we just drop the cases? Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have made public comments on this, so it's on the record. I have had frank conversations with the chair of the CSFTNO, and so we are both aware of each other's positions. I can have a frank conversation with the Member. However, as you know, Madam Speaker, Rule 24(g) prohibits the discussion of matters that are before the courts, and I don't want to offend the rules of this Assembly. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I am always up for a frank conversation with my friend across the Chamber. There is a proposal to renovate the current Garderie Plein Soleil daycare at a cost of approximately $1.2 million. When the first request was made, funds were available from Heritage Canada if GNWT matched the funds, but the project has been rejected twice by our government, even after Heritage Canada increased its potential funding. Can the Minister explain why the project has been rejected twice, even after Heritage Canada funding was increased?