Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is such a complex issue. We as a government say that we want sustainable, prosperous communities, yet we don’t talk about decentralization. We don’t talk about taking those public service jobs and moving them out of the capital. We don’t look at departments and activities that can take place in the smaller communities. We don’t look at that. That would change the numbers of our representative workforce quite dramatically if people didn’t have to move to Fort Smith or Yellowknife to get a government job. I’d like to ask the Minister if he sees us looking at that...

Mr. Speaker, it’s very reassuring to hear that it isn’t just looking for tasks that have languished on the back burner throughout the rest of the year and then looking at perhaps getting summer students to different jobs that perhaps are not departmental specific, but that we could take specific training that our post-secondary students are involved in and then apply that to initiatives being undertaken by that department to contribute to that. That’s very reassuring to hear.

Mr. Speaker, do you think it would be at all reasonably possible that we might get a total of five students between the...

I have to ask the Minister how do we then bring more definition to that 50 percent. Is it 50 percent at any level of service in the public service? Is it a 50/50 split in management and directors and all these things? Don’t we need to do more as a government to create truly representative government by ensuring we have equal representation at all levels of government in all levels and positions? What are we doing to achieve that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to direct my questions on this topic today to the Premier, the Minister responsible for the Executive and for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. The Department of Executive and DAAIR hired two summer students last year. To date how many students have been hired for this year?

It’s hard to believe in this day and age, in this territory, that there are still systemic barriers to Aboriginal people finding employment with the GNWT in positions for which they are qualified, yet we continue to hear evidence of such instances. If this is true, this is something that needs to be documented and addressed. On the other hand, if we’ve reached departmental or regional representation goals, what do we do for the people who want to find employment in those activities but cannot and feel that this is because they are not a priority hire candidate?

In the absence of any kind of...

I’m glad the Minister clarified that, because that is a very important point. How do we then, as a government, reconcile the fact that most government jobs are centralized in the capital and the regional centres where the majority of the people are not Aboriginal? The majority of the Aboriginal people, on a percentage basis, are outside; perhaps don’t want to move to a regional centre or to Yellowknife. I mean, are our goals realistic, given those factors?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t plan to have my Member’s statement coincide with the Minister of Human Resources’ statement today, but the Minister’s statement did cover quite a few of the areas that we’ve been discussing and have concerns about.

When we talk about a representative GNWT workforce, I’d like to ask the Minister what this government’s definition of that would be. Are we only talking about numbers?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee would like to deal with Bill 11 and all four committee reports today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would very much like to see the safety net around this particular age group strengthened through cooperation between teachers, educators, social workers, families, communities, churches. I would very much like to see this safety net for this age group strengthened, and I would ask the Minister if he would consider a specific dialogue and discussion with people who are in this field going forward and perhaps include it in a transition plan for the 17th Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you. When the Minister spoke the other day, I believe in Committee of the Whole, saying that this government cannot possibly have enough money to address all of the social concerns once they have advanced to the point that trying to achieve and address these solutions is so costly that this government doesn’t have enough money for that, and he stressed the importance of working on the front end on preventative measures. Mr. Speaker, I see a lot of opportunity where we as a government could bring programs, services to bear early on when these young people first begin to encounter some of...