Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first I'd like to recognize two hardworking pages from the Inuvik Boot Lake riding, Ms. Caitlyn Wright and Mr. Wilhem Jelima who have been here working all this week, and I'd like to thank them for their hard work. And I'd also like to recognize Mr. Loutitt. I had an opportunity to work with Mr. Loutitt a little in a previous life, and maybe we never always saw eye to eye but certainly always had great respect and appreciated all the hard work he had done on behalf of GNWT. And to echo my friend from Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Loutitt, go Packers.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize deputy minister Steve Loutitt and all the wonderful work and support he has given the department, particular to the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the other projects. And additionally, I would also like to recognize, on our last day of the session, the hardworking staff of the Assembly and our interpreters. I hope you enjoy the break, spring. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Monfwi.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, [Translation] INSERT* [Translation Ends] masi.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize my constituent William Gagnon who is back from his international travels, and welcome back to the Assembly. And I too would like to recognize Mr. Steve Loutitt who I did not have the pleasure of working with in my time in the public service but was very much far and away the most welcoming deputy minister since I took on this role, and I believe we have become fast friends and I look forward to having a beer with him tomorrow night. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. Terry Testart, a resident of Fort McPherson and senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Fort McPherson. I worked with Terry several years ago. And I wanted to welcome Terry. And also to Mr. Loutitt for his many years of service and to the interpreters for their dedicated service while we are conducting our work here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from the Mackenzie Delta. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On a busy day like today, I'm afraid I might be missing Yellowknife South residents who I can't see from behind me. Fortunately, Mr. Speaker, we are a family friendly neighbourhood and I am happy to say we have two youth here that I will recognize from Yellowknife South. Ima Taba and Olivia Costache, thank you for helping us as pages here in the House.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Terry's going to feel very special today because we're all fighting over him, but I'd like to say a warm welcome to my constituent, and we might need some proof of residency now to Mr. Terry Testart. Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to acknowledge Steve Loutitt in the House today. I started my journey with the GNWT as an intern for the Department of Transportation, spent many a days on the tarmac with Mr. Loutitt, including the year where a missile hit the golf course. What a time to start in communications. But very much my best memories of him were certainly at the hockey arena watching our children grow into goalies together. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Kam Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my beautiful darling wife Elina Edjericon and children for putting up with me while she takes care of the homestead. Also I wanted to recognize my constituents in Dettah, N'dilo, Lutselk'e, and Fort Resolution. Also I want to recognize my constituent assistant Taylor Pagotto and Warren Delorme for all their hard work. And I want to thank my colleagues and ledge staff and cooks and technical people. And finally, I want to recognize Maro Rose Sundberg, Jonas Lafferty, Dennis Drygeese, and the interpreters. Without you, this would never be possible. I want to say mahsi. And finally, Steve Loutitt and Terry Testart, I want to recognize you and everybody else in the House. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. I apologize that I gave him a second shot, but he had a long list. So recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize my cousin Steve Loutitt and thank him for his many years of service in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Thebacha. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take a minute to recognize some people who have been here with us for the past six weeks while I've been in the House. All of the interpreters who do the good work of letting the people of the territory know what we're up to. We were lucky enough to be invited to a potluck that they put on today, and it was a wonderful experience. And, of course, I also want to recognize the Troy Aikman of the Department of Infrastructure, Mr. Steve Loutitt, one of the -- you know, the hardest working people that I've ever met, one of the most positive. He's a great member of our team and, you know, very, very supportive of his team. And that's really, you know, what we need in this territory and in this government, is those kinds of folks and individuals, and we are indebted to him for his 37 years of service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

I guess it's my turn to recognize deputy minister Mr. Loutitt. Great taste in football players. Oh what a team. You know those Green Bay Packers fans, well, you know, they don't have the taste that you do. So I welcome you in your retirement. I know we will see some posts of your new abode with the Dallas Stars out there, so we all have faith. As well, I'd like to recognize Mr. Testart. I recognize Mr. Terry Testart because he was the first person I got to work with when I became working for the Government of the Northwest Territories when he was in Behchoko. So that doesn't mean he's aged at all; I did. He's looked as young as he was before so welcome here. As well, I'd like to recognize Mary Jane Cazon, our interpreter that does Dene Zhatie, as well as the -- as the Premier said, the interpreters, they had our first potluck and we got to share it with them today at lunch time. So thank you very much for that.

If we've missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your chambers. I greatly appreciate the fact that you allow us to represent the people of the Northwest Territories even though it's for a short period of time. I hope you are enjoying the proceedings. It's always nice to see people in the gallery. With that being said, we'll take a five-minute adjournment, please.

--SHORT RECESS

Thank you, colleagues. Motions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker,

WHEREAS the affirmative action policy was established in the late 1980's;

AND WHEREAS the affirmative action policy was intended to support northern employment by creating and strengthening opportunities for northern Indigenous people;

AND WHEREAS the affirmative action policy was also intended to support and recognize long-term commitments of non-Indigenous peoples;

AND WHEREAS the affirmative action policy was intended to support women and persons with disabilities;

AND WHEREAS the affirmative action policy is a policy and requires periodic evaluation and updating from time to time;

AND WHEREAS the Indigenous employment policy has had a number of concerns highlighted by committees of this Assembly;

AND WHEREAS the Indigenous employment policy has received enormous negative feedback from the public;

AND WHEREAS the Indigenous employment policy has not been received by the public in a positive way;

AND WHEREAS, more than one committee has requested that the government not proceed with the Indigenous employment policy or, at the very least, to pause this policy until a clear consensus of Members has been reached;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Range Lake, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to immediately halt any further advancement and implementation of the new Indigenous employment policy, also known as the IEP, and return to using the affirmative action policy without delay as the primary hiring guidelines of the Government of the Northwest Territories;

AND FURTHER, that the Minister of Finance engage with the Standing Committee on Government Operations, prior to any further changes to the Government of the Northwest Territories' hiring policy, to discuss and seek guidance that can improve the affirmative action policy which ultimately strengthens the Government of the Northwest Territories' hiring practices with the intent that supports northern Indigenous, long-term Northerners, women, persons with disabilities, as well as other marginalized communities;

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's been a lot of talk about this since it's been, in my humble opinion, rammed through. This policy change is quite frustrating. Many committees have already spoken against this and want it to be slowed down. Recently, one of the committees -- although I won't speak to it because it was an in-camera and confidential meeting, but I'll say it received a lot of feedback, and it was overwhelmingly concerned in the manner of the change and wanted the territorial's hiring policy stay as the affirmative action policy which we've seen for over 35 years.

Mr. Speaker, furthermore, the importance of it is no policy should go without review. I definitely believe in that. And there were changes, and I'd like to highlight one for the public's benefit to appreciate some of the changes that could have happened and should have happened and need part of the periodic details of what we're talking about.

So by way of example, Mr. Speaker, there is a -- within the current policy, which ends, according to the Minister and the government on April 1, if you were born in the Northwest Territories, you would be considered -- if you are non-Indigenous that is, and you would be considered a P2. And if you left the day after you were born here, you could come back any time of our lifetime and be treated as a P2. And for the public, that's priority number 2. But, again, most people will know what this means.

That said, Mr. Speaker, I think that misses the intent of what the policy was about. And it was about inspiring and finding ways to recognize the importance of northern people who have committed.

So first and foremost, no one I spoke to had any issues with Indigenous people from the Northwest Territories being treated as priority 1. As a matter of fact, the empowerment opportunity is absolutely critical to grow that. But there's elements that find the frustration where Northerners feel betrayed by this process. I have heard from people from the top of the North to the south of the North that there are ways we could have tweaked the current policy in a progressive way. I realize that there are certain overlapping Indigenous relationships that needed to be recognized. I too think that that's important.

What is problematic with the policy is I don't believe it's ever been used in the fullness of how it should have been used. That said, there are tweaks that could have been considered, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we need to understand the problems. The government will say well, we don't have enough Indigenous employment and it's not reaching the ratio of 50 percent of the North. That may be statistically true.

Now, what my experience has been around these types of problems is it always start with what do you want me to tell you on the statistics and we'll find a way to tell you the story through the numbers. In other words, we could have found any answer we really wanted to given the direction and the position. Also, Mr. Speaker, at the same time is we're not recognizing key fundamental foundational problems with the affirmative action program. It is a process of saving and -- saving and recognizing problems. So what am I saying?

Well, we have low education opportunities. We have high expectation of credentials. We have to find a gateway to create opportunities. We have communities where graduation rates are below 50 percent. That is the true critical problem of what's happening here. Creating a new IEP program, Mr. Speaker, isn't solving these problems, Mr. Speaker. It's just a fundamental shell game of trying to say, statistically, we need to raise these up. Mr. Speaker, when people want to work for the Northwest Territories and they are Indigenous, they are supported. And I support that. And I think that we have programs through -- and we certainly have exemptions through the Premier and Cabinet where we could do direct appointments. So if we need to improve the statistics, I'm certainly in favour of that. But opening -- kicking the door open wide and saying anyone from Canada, from whether it's Nova Scotia all the way to BC, is now hit a priority on this new policy is quite frustrating. As a matter of fact, again, it feels is the GNWT trying to save the national problem? Give it a local result? I'm not sure.

At the same time, Mr. Speaker, the government will tell you well, you know, it's always had legal issues. Well, I think there's always legal issues with a lot of policies. This one in particular, I'm not confident it's there. I'm not aware if it's ever been publicly challenged. In other words, tested in court, received any judicial guidance saying that.

Now, every Minister will say somebody in many the background says there's questions about it. Well, that may be true. There's question about our BIP. There's always questions about the BIP. And, you know what? Fundamentally, Northerners have grown to appreciate that and recognize they have limits, and sometimes it doesn't work out in their favour. That said, they do recognize how important some of these little nuggets of being a Northerner are represented and respected.

Mr. Speaker, the affirmative action program has been bought in for a generation or more -- if not We're getting close to two generations -- who have understood the importance of the value of that particular program. And to throw it out, again, feels likes a frustration.

Now, let's talk about other areas of aspects, Mr. Speaker, that are actually are foundational to this issue. So I've talked to mining companies, and they're frustrated too. They're hearing, wow, we have to hire more Indigenous people, which is fantastic. They go so if the GNWT gets to change its policy, how does it affect their socioeconomic agreements? You know, they're like, well, so if it's not good for the GNWT, is it good for us? Where is this fairness? Mr. Speaker, it's about fair application and reasonable application that respect Northerners' commitments.

The other aspect is, Mr. Speaker, not everyone wants to work for the Government of the Northwest Territories. I know there are a lot of people in various communities that don't want to work for the GNWT. And believe it or not -- I know this is hard to believe -- but the GNWT has long left the title or honour or pillar of opportunity as the employer of choice. It is no longer that. Yes, some people have enjoyed a great career here. Some have had great advancement. Some have, you know, had these dynamic experiences that all they do is talk about, you know, it's great going to work every day. I'm happy for them. But not everyone wants to work for the government. We have a federal government that's constantly competing for Indigenous people. We have Indigenous governments constantly competing for them. So it makes only perfect sense -- wait a minute, here's statistics again -- that Indigenous people are being hired in their community government organizations, which I think is incredible, but yet the GNWT is not getting those people applying there. So I think it's one of these narratives that you have to drill down and ask, what question are we really asking? Or do we already have the answer, and we're just trying to find the facts through the back door of statistics? I don't know.

Mr. Speaker, broader, now I'm going to speak, you have communities. And I've been to, like, every community of the North, except for Sachs. But I've been to every community of the North. And I can tell you jobs are tough in a small community. It's tough to find them. It's tough to find employment. And we don't do enough to inspire and create creative opportunities to get that. So if employment is the issue, why don't we have a jobs mandate, a war time mandate to say we're going to put employment and we're going to raise education standards and we're going to throw everything at these opportunities we can get. So back to where's the fundamental problem? We'll call these the cornerstones of this issue which is education and opportunities. And that's really what we're having here, is this -- and that's what was trying to identify new ways to advance.

Mr. Speaker, I have more to say, and like most people know, I could probably go on for quite a while, but this is a very serious topic and it's very frustrating. And I've had people from all ranges of support so don't think it's just the P2 candidates that are mad. It's also Indigenous people that I've spoken to who feel that their recognition and commitment Northerners have made has been lost. And it's unfortunate that the way that these conversations get talked about, they could be misconstrued in other ways. And it's very frustrating, and it's very difficult.

I have heard from many GNWT employees who are afraid to comment because they're GNWT employees. Their democratic right to communicate to their elected officials, either written and even in sometimes verbal, are very frustrating for them because they don't feel that their voices could be heard. And so we may have received an enormous overwhelming amount of feedback at committee at the call of committee. But I wish we could have this public so the government could have that. I wish government employees could feel safe to say, you know what, I'm upset or frustrated by this. But we can't in this environment. And I wouldn't want anything else be betrayed -- portrayed -- sorry, just to be clear, portrayed, that people just feel left out by this government.

Mr. Speaker, I will be requesting a recorded vote when we do come to that particular time. And I think what's key to me here is the fact that this government can reverse this, pause it. I've asked them to halt it through the motion. I thank the seconder who's supported the motion to get it on the floor. I encourage people to continue to open their mind and see the opportunity that's being walked away from and respect people who have committed their lives, their families to the North, who invest in the North, who want this to be part of their future and by not -- by walking away from them, it's that empty feeling that your government is walking away from you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.