Frieda Martselos

Mr. Chair, I move this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment include Indigenous language proficiency when hiring positions in the Indigenous Language and Education Secretariat. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment report annually on each action related to revitalizing official languages, including on the oral proficiency assessment tools, the Indigenous language revitalization certification program, and the mentor apprentice program. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, our report was read into the record so I do not have any substantive comments to add. But I would like to thank the committee for their work on this report and individual Members may have comments on the report and its recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I hear the Ministers saying there's accessibility. Accessibility is extremely hard, okay. Sure, the MLAs have accessibility. But what about the poor person on the street? Do they have accessibility to actually say what they actually felt when they went for an interview and is refused again, over and over? Can the Minister tell whether staff incompetence or employee insubordination may be part of the problems relating to broader human issues in the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wasn't going to ask any questions but just listening to some of the comments here today, I'm going to go back to my questions that I asked the Minister of human resources the other day.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if she is aware of the unspoken practice and culture within the human resources wherein hiring staff will brown and blacklist potential applicants and existing employees from advancing within the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to the recommendations contained in this report within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment conduct greater oversight on inclusive schooling practices, including thorough spot checks on individualized learning plans and report annually on the outcome oriented performance measures. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We have to vote on it.

Mr. Chair, I will go ahead with the committee motions. Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment develop performance measures for each area highlighted in the compliance audit and the corresponding Department of Education, Culture and Employment action plan to achieve specific outcomes and to report annually on these measures. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate my question from the other day because I think that we have to keep focused on what we want to make change on within this government. Between 2016 and 2020, there was a total of 303 appeals to human resource hiring decisions; however, only 17 of those appeals were upheld. And all appeals all together were denied in 20192020. Does the Minister believe these statistics are fair and not indicative of broader issues within the appeal process in human resources? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.