Frieda Martselos

Can the Minister tell us if the affirmative action strategy applies to all departments of the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I'm going to talk about the Affirmative Action Policy and how it is not being evenly applied across all departments within the Government of the Northwest Territories. What I mean is that I have brought several constituency issues pertaining to the Affirmative Action Policy to the attention of the Minister responsible for human resources. Oftentimes, the Minister will defer any answers on these particular enquiries to the department or Ministers who are doing the hiring. Through my work on these issues, it has come to my attention that there is not an even...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to review its policies and practices for racial and cultural bias, especially as they relate to education, Health and Social Services, Justice, housing, and government hiring; and further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Some people believe that direct appointments are beneficial for Indigenous P1 individuals. Can the Minister tell us if she agrees with that statement?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of human resources tell us if her department is ensuring that the Affirmative Action Policy is being evenly applied within all departments of the government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to use my Member's statement to thank and acknowledge the church community in Fort Smith. Mr. Speaker, there are three churches in my community: the Anglican, the Catholic, and the Pentecostal. The church community in Fort Smith has become a core constituency of the town itself. The church community contributes to the entirety of the community of Fort Smith. They want Fort Smith to thrive and do well, along with the rest of the NWT. The church community contributes to local events, and they share their building space with other organizations or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On May 27, 2020, I asked the former Infrastructure Minister about what specific directions were given to our government from the federal government about the Fort Smith airport changes. This Minister told me that Transport Canada provided this direction in a form of updated standards and regulations for airport runways. The former Minister also offered to share these Transport Canada standards with me. My question is: will our current Infrastructure Minister commit to sharing with me these standards, along with any information regarding previous Fort Smith airport...

[Microphone turned off] ...questions.

Mr. Chair, I'm wondering about the Fort Smith clinic. There are a few things that I feel that are not there that we had before. I know that they are trying to get a speech therapist; I know that for sure. We used to always have a dietician. We don't have one anymore. A dietician is very important. We have lots of seniors in the community, and the population at large. I'm just wondering about the dietician. The other area that I want to make sure is stabilized in the Fort Smith Health Centre is the lab services. We had full lab services there, and I know that we are going to be doing the blood...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm looking at page 180. Just for clarity, Mr. Chair, the Fort Smith Health Centre would come under community clinics and health centres? Am I correct?