Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I talked about the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and Community Wellness and the 12 individuals who helped us with that. Today I’d like to recognize Paul Andrew, who is the chair of the forum, and thank him for all of his hard work and that of his colleagues. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize, as well, Ernie Bernhardt, a senior boy, my roommate way back in the mid-‘60s back in Grandin College. I was a junior boy and they put me in with him so I could learn a thing or two and I learned all sorts of things that I don’t really want to talk about, but about dating girls and all that kind of stuff from Ernie. Also, his son O.J. and his daughter Donna. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think both Minister Ramsay and Lafferty already introduced him, but I wanted to once again reaffirm a welcome to Minister Okalik. I’ve come to know him over the last number of years and certainly have a great respect for him. One thing that hadn’t been mentioned was he’s also, I believe, the first lawyer in Nunavut, if not close to the top, but he’s had such a distinguished career as a politician and we’re certainly glad by all means to see him return to the House in the Nunavut Assembly and I look forward to the good things he’ll continue to do. It’s a great honour to have you here, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also am proud to recognize some Weledeh constituents. We’ve heard about Mr. Ernie Bernhardt and I see his family, too, so welcome to them. Paul Andrew, of course, and any members of the forum that might be with him from Weledeh. I can’t really see people back there. I’d also like to recognize David Jones, our Conflict of Interest Commissioner, who I haven’t met yet but am looking forward to meeting, and Paul Okalik as well. It’s great to have a representative from Nunavut here, old friends. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Colleagues, I should have gone in front of Mr. Ramsay. I’d like to draw your attention to our presence today in the gallery of Mr. David Jones, our Conflict Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. He’s accompanied by his daughter Sarah Jones. Please join me in welcoming them to the House today.
Also in the gallery is the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts. Welcome to the House.
As well, the former Member of Nunakput, Mr. Ernie Bernhardt and his son O.J. and my executive assistant, Donna Bernhardt. Welcome to the House. I, too, would like to welcome Mr. Paul Okalik to the House. I remember fishing with you in Huskey Lake when we had the western Premiers up in Tuktoyaktuk a few years back. We had a good time. So, welcome to the House.
I’d like to welcome all visitors here in the public gallery today. Thank you for taking an interest in our proceedings.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have a few questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to ask the Minister if there are plans by the department to evaluate the pilot project in Fort Smith that I referred to. Maybe the evaluation has already been done. Maybe there are other communities that are already piloting a similar project. I’d like to know what the status is of the evaluation and the encouragement, I guess, of other communities to follow this example.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member indicated, this is currently in the pilot status, and as with pilots, we will evaluate and determine whether or not we will be able to deliver this in the future in other communities, regions, locations throughout the Northwest Territories. I will get a follow-up on the status of the evaluation for the Member.
I’d like to ask the Minister, would they be at a stage at this point of perhaps calling for expressions of interest from other communities who may like more information on this or who may be wanting to participate in a similar program as this to support elders in their communities? It encompasses a lot of really healthy activity. Would it be premature for other communities to contact the department to express interest?
It might be a little early to go out and to actually do an expression, but we’re absolutely willing to share any information that we have on the program with other communities that might be interested in doing the same type of thing. But until we do an actual evaluation and conclude that evaluation, we won’t necessarily be in a position to make any commitments to support that program in any of the other communities, but we will share information.
My research would indicate that this program started in Fort Smith about a year ago, and I was wondering if the Minister could provide any kind of a time frame on when such an evaluation may be undertaken and completed.
I’m not sure of the exact date or the exact status of the evaluation, whether we had started or whether we’re just waiting for the program to conclude its full year, but I will get that detail for the Member and committee.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the mechanics of the Heritage Fund. I want to ask the Minister of Finance, within the life of this government, will the government consider an option to look at considering having an independent body type of framework to manage the Heritage Fund?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The establishment of a Heritage Fund has been a long process going back to the last Assembly, and we started with the legislative proposal to get the legislation passed. We got the legislation passed in anticipation of the day when devolution would come. In the meantime, we started putting in a very modest amount of money, a quarter-million dollars a year, seed money, as it were. We’ve always contemplated, and it has always been anticipated that as the fund devolves as we hit devolution, and as the money starts being put into the Heritage Fund, and as it grows in critical mass it will need to evolve in terms of how it’s managed.
All the issues raised by Members in terms of the lending criteria, what’s the governance model, initially, in the start-up phase it has been looked after within government by the FMB, which has allowed us to get up and running, and we’re still in very early stages, but that discussion has already been acknowledged that we’re prepared to take part in that. Whether we are going to be in a position to set up a major governance oversight structure in the life of this government to look after a relatively small amount of money has yet to be determined, but we are definitely going to be moving that way once it is set up and fully operational. Thank you.
Within the life of this government, would the Minister look at a discussion paper where he could bring forward to the Assembly to say where we could start having discussion on the Heritage Fund and the government framework for the fund? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, we would be glad to pull together a document that lays out issues to be addressed in the coming months and years as it pertains to the Heritage Fund as it moves ahead. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister say that it will be within a year, within a few months shy of us calling our next election? Thank you.
Yes, we will endeavor to have a document on the books within the timelines outlined by the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
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. Menicoche. Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Beaulieu.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The first thing that we are doing is that we are looking at community-by-community statistics and determining whether or not in a particular community that the numbers of affirmative action positions are low and then we are trying to fill the positions that are vacant in those communities with Aboriginal employees by various strategies that we are undertaking. One example would be the Regional Recruitment Strategy. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, also I think some of the barriers are that some of our jobs are entry level positions, but the qualifications listed beside them are impossible for just entry level positions. They are asking, I don’t know, like five years of experience, some college or university, but these are entry level positions and they don’t have to be that qualified.
I would like to know if the Minister is reviewing some of those jobs and entry level positions as well. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in the Deh Cho, which includes another riding in the Assembly, there are 34 positions that we are trying to actively recruit for. Seventeen of those positions need a university degree and 10 of those positions are college or trades. Very few of the 34 positions are entry level positions, so I hear what the Member is saying.
One of the things that we are looking at with the regional recruitment is to see if individuals who have a high school education with some training for over a year can fill one of the positions that has a greater education requirement, combining experience and the fact that the individual would have high school. Thank you.
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.
These situations have come up a few times. We do look at these on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes the position requires something that’s not exactly in line with the applicant’s experience and qualifications and they end up being screened out. Sometimes they are close enough that we can use equivalencies and their experience to screen them in. So, many of these things are on a case-by-case basis, but we are working with the departments as these jobs come up, and as individuals responsible for making sure the policies are followed, human resource people are working with them to make sure that the policies are followed with the intent of increasing affirmative action hires in the GNWT. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
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 qualifications, can the Minister explain how P1 works? Thank you.
The job evaluation process is used to determine what qualifications are needed to do this particular job, so if this particular job is out, has certain qualifications that are required, those are the qualifications that must be met. So if there is a priority 1 candidate that meets the qualifications, then those are the individuals interviewed. Once we have a number of priority 1 candidates or even one priority 1 candidate eligible, regardless of whether or not priorities 2 and 3 have higher qualifications, we do interview the priority 1 candidate and attempt to try to increase the affirmative action numbers. Thank you.
Thank you. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions, probably not surprisingly, are for the Minister of Finance today on his statement earlier today in the House. I’m wondering how the Minister can book $120 million in resource revenues in 2014-2015, $15 million for Aboriginal governments as 25 percent of our net fiscal benefit and refuse to commit 25 percent to the Heritage Fund to a more distant fiscal year? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In both the case of the Aboriginal governments and the Heritage Fund, the money is not expected to flow into our coffers until late in 2015, at which time we will honour the commitment to put in 25 percent into the Heritage Fund. Thank you.
I didn’t hear an answer there, but I’m not surprised at that either, I guess. The Minister has repeatedly claimed that 5 percent of the Heritage Fund was part of this budget, yet less than 1 percent – it’s a very small fraction of 1 percent – is actually budgeted. What gives? Mahsi.
The key issue with the Heritage Fund has been the political debates over the amount that goes into the Heritage Fund. We came forward with 5 percent. We’ve had the debate. Clearly, the money is not going to flow into our coffers where we’ll actually have the cash until 2015, but the critical decision as a government was what we are going to put in, as a Legislature, what we are going to agree to earmark to go into that Heritage Fund. If we would have waited until next year, then the 5 percent in the budget would have gone into the fund. So there was a need to have that political debate, even though the money isn’t going to flow until some months hence. This was the first opportunity to clarify that and we’ve done that.
The point is that the Minister has booked the revenue. He’s booked the allocation to the Aboriginal governments and he has not booked the dollars to the Heritage Fund. We want that done this fiscal year. We know that the dollars flow later, and by delaying it another year, guess what. It delays the dollars into the Heritage Fund another year. Not acceptable.
I assume the $120 million booked in the budget as resource revenue royalties is an estimate. Why don’t you, again, at least book the estimated 5 percent as per your repeated claims that 5 percent was being booked this fiscal year.
The intention was to have that number reflected in the 2015-16 budget when we had the number. We’ve committed to the 25 percent and we will honour that and we will put it in as soon as we get the money. That will be reflected clearly and accurately in 2015-16. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
The Minister has budgeted us into an untenable situation where he claims we have to spend almost all of our children’s inheritance in 2014-15.
How will the Minister adjust our budget to ensure 25 percent of the net fiscal benefit in 2014-15 can be booked into the Heritage Fund as per the will of our public and this House? Mahsi.
