Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd just like to, you know, acknowledge the, you know, the comments I heard from the Members. You know, and I respect, you know, that they the comments, I respect the decisions that each make. You know, we're all here, I think, to do the best we can for the residents of the Northwest Territories. And if we all thought the same, we probably wouldn't be doing a good job. So I'm glad that we have diverse views, and that's what makes it work. And for this vote, I'd like a recorded vote as well, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Blue skies and warmer weather. Mr. Speaker, it is the time of year for events meant to welcome warmer weather. Last weekend it was K'amba Carnival. Now in Hay River, on the 17th to the 19th is now time for Polar Pond Hockey.

Mr. Speaker, to bring this event together requires a lot of work from a lot of dedicated volunteers, along with sponsorships from a great number of local businesses. It means clearing massive amounts of snow off the river down by Fishermen's Wharf, then it is on to laying out ten rinks and preparing them for flooding. As all that is happening, a setup crew is installing Big...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was hoping that when I saw Mr. McLeod up in the audience there that he actually had a cheque for this project. But I see he's ran away.

Mr. Speaker, has application for permits required to remove silt from the channel in the harbour been submitted for approval, and if so, when can we expect to hear a response or approval for that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier confirm if it was just the one department, or did it go to any other departments in the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Seems like we're at a navy meeting here or something. I'd like to recognize Brad Enge; Michael McLeod, our MP; Mr. Sholto Douglas; and Mr. Jackson Lafferty, grand chief. Welcome. Welcome back home. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just got to run over and his questions.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier confirm if any support for the application is requested from communities, Indigenous governments, businesses, or industry who rely on the services of MTS? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier confirm when the business plan for the Hay River Harbour remediation went into the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one bright spot, if we can see it as that, is that Indigenous representation in senior management has reached its highest level since 2013 and currently stands at a whopping 19.7 percent. Can the Minister tell me what may have contributed to this little increase and can we expect to see exponential increases going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Indigenous representation of public sector is at an all time low right now, at around the 29 percent. Can the Minister tell me what may be contributing to this as we have had a policy in place for some 30 plus years? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to talk about affirmative action, an initiative that was put in place to ensure the GNWT public sector would be representative of the population it serves. We know that over the past 35 plus years, little has changed when we look at percentages of Indigenous Aboriginal people employed in the public sector.

Mr. Speaker, the current affirmative action policy has specific groupings of priority hires, more specifically, Priority 1, 2, and 3 candidates, with priority 1 being specific to Indigenous Aboriginal persons. The current policy defines...