Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is not a practice within human resources of branding or blacklisting applicants on mass. That is not how the Human Resources process works. GNWT hiring must comply with various pieces of legislation, including the Public Service Act, The Human Resources Manual, Staffing Appeal Regulations, and The Collective Agreement. And it is certainly the responsibility of everyone who is tasked from the Department of Human Resources to do those things.

Department of Finance does have to work, of course, with all GNWT departments with all of the hiring managers across all of the -- across departments in order to ensure that they understand all of those laws, all of those rules, and all of those processes. And it's my belief that, indeed, the human resources is making every effort to ensure that those processes are, in fact, applied across the board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister recognize that hiring staff have sometimes retaliated against certain individuals based on the applicant and employee's association with certain people whom hiring staff doesn't know or like personally? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, human resources have representatives who act as facilitators on hiring committees with whatever department they might be working with. The point of doing that, the point of having human resources present, is, in fact, to ensure, again, that the hiring process remains fair, follows all of the regulations, rules, The Collective Agreement, policy, et cetera. Selection committee members then, of course, if they are in a conflict, are to remove themselves. If there's any relationship to a candidate or any potential for bias, they are not to take part in that committee.

Mr. Speaker, does that mean, of course, that there's not occasions that people come to my office and bring forward concerns related to hiring? Absolutely. Mr. Speaker, those concerns come to the Department or come through my office all the time and come through regularly. I look at every one of them. There are often occasions where we can go back and say, What more could we be doing to educate about the process, what more could we do to support different departments in the application of the process.

And we're going to continue to do that work so that, in fact, again, every department, as they employee, of the tools that are available to them and all of the rules and regulations that they must apply continue to do that at the front end at the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have only myself been a public servant for not even about a year and a half now. I will say that it has been my experience that I am deeply impressed by the work, by the skill, and by the care that I've seen, in general, by public servants across the Northwest Territories and across different departments and divisions.

When concerns are brought forward through the Department of Finance, Human Resources headquarters does look at each and every one and does do their best to investigate them, to work to resolve personnel issues. And, indeed, there are interpersonal issues in departments, in divisions across the territories in different communities, and Human Resources undertakes the time and effort to investigate them, whether it's through a formal workplace assessment, a less formal internal assessment that's done, or simply working through the process with the support of Human Resources to ensure that all of the employees have access to a workplace that is harassment free and that is inclusive.

Last note, Mr. Speaker, every manager before they become a manager, when they become a supervisor, must enroll in human resources training, including in staffing, so that they, again, understand what that vision is of having a human resource -- or in having a public service that is inclusive and representative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final Supplementary. Member for Thebacha.

Mr. Speaker, between 2016 and 2020, there was a total of 303 appeals to Human Resources hiring decisions; however, only 17 of those appeals were upheld, and all appeals all together were denied in 2019-2020. Does the Minister believe these statistics are fair and are not indicative of broader issues with the appeal process in Human Resources? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the appeal process provides an opportunity for someone who's an unsuccessful candidate to review a procedural error. So, in other words, that there was something that was not applied correctly in terms of applying with certain rules, certain element of The Collective Agreement, the Affirmative Action Policy. It's not a do-over on an application, and it's not an opportunity to question a job description or to question the qualifications or equivalencies, which, again, Mr. Speaker, those qualifications and equivalencies are set up before the screening gets done. So as far as those processes, the fact that the appeals aren't successful suggests that the processes are, in fact, being applied correctly.

I would also note, Mr. Speaker, that the appeal process is designed in a way as much as possible to be impartial, because when there is an appeal, it goes to a third party. It goes outside of the hiring committee that was involved and goes to a staffing review officer. That individual then reviews all of the information. And that is how the determination is made. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.