Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, the motion before the House contains a number of factual errors that I would like to correct. In the spirit of consensus government, I will, of course, acknowledge where the motion is in fact accurate.

The motion is correct in stating that the Government of Canada has introduced Bill C-15, An Act to replace the Northwest Territories Act, to implement certain provisions of the Northwest Territories Land and Resources Devolution Agreement. This motion does not, however, reference that Bill C-15 has passed third reading in the House of Commons and has been referred to the Senate...

As a government, we look after all our employees. Our employees are our most valuable asset, so I think it’s very misleading to suggest that we are throwing these employees under the bus. As a matter of fact, we do have an Affected Employee Policy. We will be placing these employees. We have told all of them that they will find jobs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have various processes in this government, some of which we’ve negotiated through a collective bargaining process, and whenever there’s a change in organization or a change in approach, there’s a process that we have to follow in terms of filling positions. We also have an Affected Employee Policy whereby affected employees have priority on existing positions. I’d be very surprised if there was as much of a problem as the Member is suggesting, so I’d be willing to hear where he sees the problem is happening.

As part and parcel of self-government negotiations, I think wherever we are negotiating, governance is a discussion that we have in any negotiations that we have, and I think the leaders in the Northwest Territories have been very creative, and I think that as we see more and more self-government agreements are negotiated I think we are going to see much more of that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for the question. As a government we are very supportive of land use plans. We have land use plans with the Gwich’in, the Sahtu, the Tlicho, and we’ve been working with the Dehcho on the Dehcho Land Use Plan. We’ve signed a bilateral terms of reference with the grand chief where we have been working together without prejudice to find ways to resolve some very complex land issues, and we’re very supportive of the Dehcho Land Use Plan going forward. As I said before, every time I meet with Minister Valcourt I press the need for appointing a Minister’s...

I would just like to confirm for the Members that between January 1st and December 31, 2013, there were 1,605 public service appointments. One hundred three of these, or 6.4 percent, were by direct appointment. Affirmative action candidates make up 67 percent of direct appointments in 2013. Graduate nurses, social workers, interns and teachers constitute 15 percent of all direct appointments.

As the Member indicates, direct appointments are only one tool. It is a very rigorous process it goes through. All of our deputy ministers have been delegated staffing authority and in order to get a...

Mr. Speaker, I have a tendency to be optimistic, so I will say that we will be able to respond before the end of this session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, human resources, all of our employees are our most valuable asset and we are very proud of all of our employees. I have already answered his question and the answer is no. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Direct appointments have been a management tool for this government ever since this government has been in place. On every occasion, a direct appointment is a benefit to the government and it is provided for through appropriate legislation and we will continue to use that practice.

The Member complains that we don’t have positions filled. We’re trying to fill positions and now he doesn’t want us to fill positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, February 21, 2014, I will move that Bill 10, Northwest Territories Lands Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.