Rocky Simpson

I will now open the floor for general comments on the Minister's statement and tabled document. Member for Yellowknife North.

Ms. Cleveland.

Thank you. Any further questions?

Seeing no further general comments, does the committee agree to review Tabled Document 56719(2): Annual Status Report 20192023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories, February 2021 January 2022, by priority?

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need to be bold if we want to see change. So I ask the Minister, will the Minister commit to a temporary suspension of the Affirmative Action Policy and departmental targets and replace it with a oneyear moratorium on nonIndigenous hires and transfers throughout this government in favour of a focus on Indigenous recruitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And now 30 years later, will the Minister commit to finding workable solutions to overcome those barriers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to 1989, this government recognized an inequity with respect to Indigenous representation in the GNWT public sector. In an attempt to address that inequity, the government of the day drafted the Affirmative Action Policy. It was a spirited attempt to place Indigenous people into the public sector workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to discuss that intent with one of the original drafters. He explained to me that the intent was to increase Indigenous representation, period. Through vetting and additional drafting revisions, the objective...

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, and I'm glad that, you know, that's happening. And, you know, I just wanted him to, you know, come and say that again so people hear it. And, you know, we need to look at a you know, we people like to see timelines because we're always, well, we're working on it but, you know, we come up with something, and, you know, it might it probably won't happen this Assembly. Maybe it'll happen next one, the one after that, I don't know. But I think that what's going to happen here is we're just going to see that that gap ever increasing. And, you know, it's going...

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, in looking at the policy and the way it's it rolls out is that, you know, there's a flaw in there in the sense that if you have a couple and one's 65 years and over and the other one's younger, they're forced if they want to use that tax relief program, the only way they could do it is for one person, the younger one, to be removed from title, which is which is interesting because if for some reason one of them passed away, then, you know, they're they're put in a position where the where the house has to probably go through probate versus just going...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess, you know, the seniors, the ones I talked to, they're concerned that, you know, there's a move to basically end this funding. So, you know, if such a decision was to be made, how would you know, what criteria would you be looking at to base something like that on? Thank you.