Mr. Speaker, I cannot support a return to the old affirmative action policy. But I also cannot give me wholehearted endorsement of the new Indigenous employment policy because I do not believe it can achieve its intended objectives.

Mr. Speaker, if this motion is asking me to take a position on which one do I support, the affirmative action policy or the Indigenous employment policy, I will do neither because I believe we are having the wrong conversation entirely.

The few constituents who did reach out to me about the Indigenous employment policy expressed a common concern, and I think it was summed up well by one constituent who said, what I have not seen or heard is anything that addresses why the existing affirmative action hiring policy failed to improve the representation of Indigenous northerners. Changing the existing policy without addressing the reasons for failure would seem to miss the mark. Northern Indigenous applicants already are priority 1. That policy has been in place for over 30 years and has little to no effect. If the root cause is not addressed, a new policy has little chance of success.

My conclusion, Mr. Speaker, is that too much attention and airtime has been given to debating the government's policy on hiring priorities and not enough attention has been given to the biggest barriers that Indigenous people and other marginalized groups actually face in securing good jobs with the government. I want to talk about how we can support community learning, new approaches to K to 12 education, adult education that meets people where they're at, effective and culturally appropriate mental health supports at every age, innovative approaches to addictions treatment. I want to talk about how even when Indigenous individuals and people from marginalized groups get hired by the GNWT, there are barriers to them moving up in their careers, so many get discouraged and leave the government. I want to talk about more flexible and responsive professional development, mentorship, and mental health supports within GNWT workplaces. I want to talk about ways the GNWT can make its workplaces more welcoming and accommodating to people with disabilities. We should also be talking more about how lived experience and knowledge of Indigenous culture and northern communities is or can be accounted for in evaluating someone's qualifications when they apply for a job.

I also want to acknowledge that many Indigenous residents may not want to work for the GNWT regardless of how much the government wants them. Many are choosing to devote their talents instead to working with their own Indigenous governments or development corporations, and there's no reason that the GNWT should be trying or coming up with strategies to lure Indigenous Northerners away from Indigenous government employers.

I've also heard from constituents about a number of barriers facing northern-born students who want to return home to work, including sometimes specialized jobs are not available, sometimes salaries are not competitive. But, again, these cannot be solved by a priority hiring policy.

Mr. Speaker, this motion offers me a chance to take a position between going back to the affirmative action policy or accepting the Indigenous employment policy, and I choose neither. I want to have entirely different conversations. So for that reason, I will be abstaining on this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.