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Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Historical Information Charles Dent is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly September 2007, as MLA for Frame Lake

Won his last election, in 2003, with 63% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Question 194-15(6): Review Of GNWT Duty To Accommodate Policy August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If we could end question period right now, we could meet right now.

---Laughter

Question 194-15(6): Review Of GNWT Duty To Accommodate Policy August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am always willing to meet with a Member to discuss a constituency issue any time.

Question 193-15(6): Role Of Human Resource Officers In Staffing Processes August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, during the hiring process, different weight can be put on different aspects and it's not uncommon for the people conducting an interview to recognize that an interviewee may be experiencing some difficulty with the interview and ask whether they would like to do it again or do it at a different time or handle it in a different way. So the government does make attempts to modify the process to work with applicants to ensure that we are not screening people out simply because they are having a bad day at the interview. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 193-15(6): Role Of Human Resource Officers In Staffing Processes August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to make it very clear that that is not the case. The human resources officer is not the person who makes the decision about who gets hired. It is a departmental decision. The human resources officers are involved to ensure that the process follows all of the GNWT policies and that the method of doing the interview and the assessment is done correctly. It is a department decision about the offers, but they have to make sure that they've followed all the processes and that's the role of the HR officer.

Question 193-15(6): Role Of Human Resource Officers In Staffing Processes August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's interesting that the Member says he's hearing about a difference in how the affirmative action policy is being interpreted by human resources officers. In fact, what I've heard more often is that since the centralization, that there's been more consistency in how it's applied, because each department often had an interpretation in the past. There is one policy around affirmative action and our staff are regularly updated on how to apply that. So I'm quite confident that we are seeing more consistent application of that policy across the Territories.

Question 193-15(6): Role Of Human Resource Officers In Staffing Processes August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The goal of involving human resources officers or staffing officers in the process is to ensure that all of the government's rules and regulations and policies are followed. We want to make sure, for instance, that the affirmative action policy is followed as it should be in the process. I would expect that in terms of technical questions, that more weight would be given to a supervisor if they are more knowledgeable about the technical area, so I'll have to follow up with the department and find out exactly how that might be accommodated. Thank you.

Question 192-15(6): Human Resources Duty To Accommodate Policy August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've already committed that we will review the human rights legislation and ensure that our policies are in line with that legislation.

Question 192-15(6): Human Resources Duty To Accommodate Policy August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would agree that the government should act as a role model and ensure that it is living up to all of the requirements of the human rights legislation in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Question 192-15(6): Human Resources Duty To Accommodate Policy August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm obviously not a labour lawyer or qualified to interpret the legislation as it might be done before the courts, but I will assure the Member that we will have a look at the human rights legislation. We'll have a look at what the requirements are and ensure that this government is in compliance. Thank you.

Question 190-15(6): Review Of Apprenticeship Programs August 22nd, 2007

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully it will be done. If I remember correctly, the draft was supposed to be done by the end of September. So hopefully there won't be issues around the review of that and I would expect it could be turned around fairly quickly into final form, which would mean that it should be ready for consideration during the business planning process.