Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I'm going to talk about the Affirmative Action Policy and how it is not being evenly applied across all departments within the Government of the Northwest Territories. What I mean is that I have brought several constituency issues pertaining to the Affirmative Action Policy to the attention of the Minister responsible for human resources. Oftentimes, the Minister will defer any answers on these particular enquiries to the department or Ministers who are doing the hiring. Through my work on these issues, it has come to my attention that there is not an even application of the Affirmative Action Policy taking place across the government. There seem to be a lot of gaps and loopholes, which allows the government to work around the Affirmation Action Policy.
For example, Mr. Speaker, recently, within the Department of Lands, there were three vacant positions, one of which a constituent of mine had applied to. My constituent applied and was denied because she was told she was inexperienced. My constituent felt she was overlooked, so she asked me to intercede on her behalf to see whether affirmative action was properly enacted for that position. I later found out that the position in question was filled by a direct appointment.
Mr. Speaker, I'm not okay with this. There is something wrong with this picture. Some people argue that the direct appointments are a good thing for Indigenous people as it provides an alternative means of hiring Indigenous candidates into government positions. However, direct appointments could also create the opposite effect and can act as a loophole around the Affirmative Action Policy.
Mr. Speaker, our government and all its departments can say all it wants that the Affirmative Action Policy is being properly enacted, but how do we know that that is, in fact, true. If it's up to each department to regulate itself regarding affirmative action, how are hiring decisions being tracked, measured, and overseen in accordance with this policy? Where is the accountability and transparency in that? I will have questions for the Minister of human resources at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.