The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Mr. Speaker, one of the questions I had asked about was about purchasers for the power, and I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to any partnership discussions about securing partners to purchase the power as well from Taltson? Thank you.

Diane Archie Inuvik Boot Lake

Quyananni. Yes, those discussions are ongoing. You know, you look at the Taltson project, and it's -- you know, it's a $1.5 billion project. There's still a lot of work to do, including maintaining the -- building the partnership, being able to look at the three different phases that's included with this Taltson project. So yes, Mr. Speaker, we are having those discussions now because it is also key. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Finance.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we started this Assembly the ICGP, or the Indigenous Career Gateway Program, was not being fully utilized. There was gaps in terms of the funding available and its usage. I'm happy to say, Mr. Speaker, it is now fully subscribed. So departments are becoming aware, and they're becoming aware that it is a useful program to help bring young Indigenous people in to the public service and to ensure that they have the adequate training to get them to the next stage.

And as for accountability, to make sure that we continue, I'd rather have that program be oversubscribed and be looking at ways to expand it. Mr. Speaker, that's why we have the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. That is going to provide and does provide the accountability. It's providing accountability in terms of the highest levels where the performance measures are actually going to be part -- or the performance appraisals of senior management are actually going to be looking at the achievement of the targets that are there, and the targets are now being made public department by department. So I'm happy, again, to have that reinforcement here so that departments are aware that this is something that is, in fact, now a live issue and the targets are there and the accountability is present. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister create a departmental procedure within HR to ensure that every Indigenous candidate on the casual pool or Indigenous career gateway receive one-on-one support from an HR professional to provide advice and support for securing GNWT positions?

I understand that this is a -- this is something that the HR does provide to all -- anyone who needs the support on writing -- or resumes and things like that. But knowing what we know, that our Indigenous population is so low in our GNWT statistics, is this something that her department can commit to? Thank you.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the action no. 1 of the IRRF -- the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, it is that the Department of Finance will create resources and tools to improve the applicant's experience when applying for positions.

Mr. Speaker, I take the Member's point, and I don't disagree. It's not about asking someone to ask for help. Some people simply will not ask even if they could use and benefit from that help. So as we move forward with this recruitment and retention framework, Mr. Speaker, we are, indeed, going to create those resources and tools, and I will certainly commit to get back to the Member as to what that's going to look like so that we can, in fact, achieve that action goal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I know that is a big barrier with a lot of people looking at the resumes and stuff, and I know it's part of a lot of the review that they're doing within the human resource department, is looking at these overinflated job descriptions. My worry is is that if the job description is rewritten and, you know, that the pay goes down but is there a possibility of a way that HR can review a lot of these entry-level positions that have been overinflated to accommodate salaries, which is the way that the job eval works with the Hay Plan and the whole union thing. I really would like that a lot of these entry-level positions are looked at with the salaries remaining the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, as mentioned in the framework, the point of reviewing the job descriptions isn't to find a way to reduce pay. The point of reviewing the job descriptions is to make sure that we are aligning the necessary level of credentials to the job that is to be performed. So there's no intention or desire to reduce pay. Again, it's really about finding a way to make sure that we are matching skill sets and matching opportunities to the labour market, to the labour force, and bringing in a more representative workforce, bringing in more people who are otherwise not seeing themselves because of too narrow a job description that doesn't actually fit what is required.

So -- and Mr. Speaker, I know -- I know the Member's had a lot of personal experience. I've had -- actually have had her sit down with folks from Finance before, and they found that helpful. Perhaps the way to address some of the bigger issues in this question is to have the -- see if she'd be willing to do that one more time now that we're at a different point in the framework and that we can benefit from her experience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is the first time I get to say yes, Minister.

Can the Minister commit to making the NWT Indigenous labour force statistics by gender and community available? You know, the reason why I'm asking that is we do get statistics broken out by Indigenous, regional, Yellowknife, but it's the age. Like, within -- like, I'm talking about in my Member's statement is these young males that are -- are -- starting careers and, you know, and needing this step in the door. So I'm really hoping that we can get this and be -- have it public so that we're transparent for the rest of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the public service annual report does provide some of the information with respect to the breakdowns by community, by gender, and Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Meanwhile, I know ECE also does reporting with respect to the overall labour force although not directly to the public service. So I'll certainly commit to going back and seeing if there's a gap between what's reported by ECE and what's reported by the Department of Finance public service report if there's something more that we can do to put those information pieces together so they're more clear and make it more useful, with the goal always of ensuring that we are being transparent about who's being hired and being transparent about areas where we still have some work to do. So, you know, again, I don't know if that's quite what the Member's looking for but if she is going to take up my offer to sit down again, we can work through any other gaps that she may see. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.