Tom Beaulieu

It is an odd-looking bridge and sort of in the middle of nowhere. The bridge was put in and then they had some issues on the approach of the bridge. It’s quite high and so on. The department is looking at it now. It’s been there for quite a while, but what we are talking about is trying to go to… I think we were initially advised by elders to move it I believe it’s 1.8 kilometres up that creek, and then that would be where we’d have to realign the winter road. So we’re looking at the cost of that. The cost of that is fairly substantial, but at the same time if we don’t do it, then we would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In previous years we did get some additional funds to do the winter road from industry. So when there was some activity in and around Norman Wells, we received an additional $400,000 annually from industry to support us with a road that led from about where the road gets rough where the Sahtu/Deh Cho line is up to Norman Wells. This year we didn’t get that money until we were able to negotiate a separate deal for less than that from industry. Thank you.

I’m just trying to get up to speed on the situation over there. The senior citizens home has gone through some review and there has been the determination that more services could be provided. The Housing Corporation has issued a request for a proposal for a design required for the changes that are necessary. At this time, the Housing Corporation is looking at the RFP submissions. We were hoping that sometime close to the end of last month they would be able to review those proposals to see how they were going to proceed with any design changes that may be necessary to accommodate the people...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Fort Providence Senior Citizens Home is definitely in the inventory of government; however, it is in the inventory of the NWT Housing Corporation. I believe that the Housing Corporation does work with the Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority to provide some services. The senior citizens home in Fort Providence is not a long-term care facility. It’s an independent living facility. I’m going to have to get some information from the Housing Corporation on what type of security is provided to the residents there. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Many of the items that I spoke of, the qualifications review, the barriers, would help in some of these cases, but I know what the Member is referring to when the individual is clearly qualified, has the experience and has all of the education requirements to do a job that’s listed and the individual doesn’t succeed either at the screening process or the interview process. Each time those types of things occur and an individual, whether it’s to the Members here or directly through our department of HR, launches a complaint of that type, we do follow up and check. So I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The exact numbers as of December 31, 2014, across the public service was 31.1 percent indigenous Aboriginal persons. In senior management, it is indigenous Aboriginal persons in senior management, 18.2 percent of the public service. Specifically in Human Resources, indigenous Aboriginal persons, 34.2 percent, and indigenous Aboriginal persons in senior management, 30 percent.

On the regional recruitment, it’s a program, I believe, that does have merit. We felt that it would be a program that would increase the Aboriginal content of the public service for sure, but the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. To my right is Ms. Shirley Desjardins, deputy minister, Human Resources; and to my left, Ms. Michelle Beard, director, corporate affairs, Human Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize my constituency assistant from Lutselk’e, Mr. James Marlowe, in the gallery today.

The Department of Transportation has identified the Yellowknife governance as a project that we should be reviewing. This review of the governance at the Yellowknife Airport is going to be done under the Refocusing Government Initiative by this government. We’re going to look at the management options at the airport so that we’ll review all the options. The Department of Transportation is working with Finance to look at these. We’ve also hired a consultant to specifically look at all of these for consideration, probably by the next government.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the committee wishes to have the department appear, then we would go through the regular process of appearing in front of committee specific on these items.