Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Over the last couple of days we heard in this House about many empty jobs in government. This is, of course, concerning to all Members on this side. However, my take on this is that I think we should be filling them.

Of course, we’re asking the Minister to assess them and see where those empty positions are, how many are funded, not funded. There are many mechanics and different definitions about this whole job review and ghost jobs, et cetera. My concern is my people, and in my constituency qualified people are being screened out. P1 Aboriginals and local...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted a chance to comment on the budget address generally. Along with my colleague Mr. Blake, I think nursing in our small communities is one of our priorities I would say, and trying to get that in the budget is proving to be difficult. I would sure like to get support in one of these budgets and say, look, having equal services in the small communities compared to the larger communities is just as important, so I will continue to push with that. I’ll proceed with a Member’s statement during this sitting, along with that as well.

Decentralization and...

Mr. Speaker, I’m glad they are going to do some work towards that. Just on another note, too, my constituents and also people throughout the Northwest Territories are frustrated that they’re P1 applicants and are screened out. They actually qualify. They showed me their qualifications. “Mr. Menicoche, why am I being screened out when I’ve got the qualifications?”

What will the Minister do about those scenarios that I’ve raised in the House before? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up with the Minister of Human Resources on our Affirmative Action Plan. Over the years it always seems to be the case of one step forward and two steps back. The statistics have held level at about 33 percent for the last 10 years. I know that the Minister has got some new strategies there.

I would like to ask him, just exactly what is he doing to improve the affirmative action and our representative workforce in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess part of our job as government is to give our constituents the confidence that we are taking care of their needs, confidence that our policies are working. We are not giving the people the confidence that it’s working. I have constituents who have applied and applied and get screened out. How does this P1 affirmative action work to get our people hired? In my constituency, I have a majority Aboriginal population, but I don’t think the stats represent that.

How are we going to become a representative workforce? If there are two applicants who have the same...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d just like to ask the Minister to continue to keep my constituents and our residents informed as we move along. I know that sometimes we get ahead of ourselves when we get an idea. I think that’s important, and of course, I’d like to ask the Minister to return to Nahendeh for a fuller tour later on this spring as we move along with this bird’s eye view of health authorities in the Northwest Territories.

Part of the Dehcho Health and Social Services authority is spread over basically two constituencies, Nahendeh and Deh Cho. There was some talk about utilizing the Hay River hospital as opposed to everybody coming to Yellowknife. Can the Minister comment on that?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad that the Minister of Health and Social Services travelled to Fort Simpson and we hosted a public meeting on the future of the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority. I’m also pleased to see that the public administrator, Mr. Jim Antoine, of the Dehcho Health and Social Services, is making efforts to go to the communities to explain where the health board is going.

As they heard, I’m sure, community and residents are still very concerned about potential changes to the structure of the Dehcho Health and Social Services. The Minister and the...

I’d like to thank the Minister for that answer. As well as the old board and the authority, we had one member from each community sitting on a governance council. Just how would that kind of community input be involved in this new structure that the Minister is thinking about?