Can the Minister advise the House and me what the percentage rates are now with the government with regard to the senior management hire but with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people?
I don’t have that number memorized, but I will commit to getting that to the Member later today or early tomorrow.
From last year I recall it varied from different departments. It’s not a very good record for us as a government to look at the population that we represent that falls well behind the numbers that we perceive should be going higher.
I want to ask the Minister if there are some concrete, measurable plans to raise this number. I’ve been here for nine years and we still haven’t done a significant amount of work to increase this number. Is the Minister confident that these numbers will be raised by the end of this Assembly?
The government is working and Cabinet has given direction to each of the departments to try and increase their numbers of Aboriginal representation. There clearly are some challenges. There isn’t a significant amount of turnover at the senior management level, which means there’s not a lot of people moving up. The Department of Human Resources has some expertise in succession planning and they’re happy to work with any department and they have made that offer to do some succession planning to move some individuals up through the system. We also have an Aboriginal Engagement Committee engaged by the Government of the Northwest Territories, which consists of Aboriginal employees from across the government. I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with them and discuss some of the challenges that we face, and I’ve encouraged them in coming forward with solutions and recommendations to think outside the box and help us come up with some solutions that will help increase the Aboriginal representation in our public service.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Department of Human Resources working with colleges and students to start successive planning for careers for students who have graduated from these post-secondary or high schools?
We do have a couple programs that are available to help students graduating from college – whether it’s Aurora College or another institution – transition into the workplace. Our Internship Program is that program and it is an affirmative action-based program. We also work with the college to help us identify training within house, programs for GNWT employees to take. So we do work with the college, and as far as the students, we do have the Internship Program.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Furthermore to my Member’s statement and preparing for decentralization, but also preparing for some of the work that’s going on in the Northwest Territories, today I’m going to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what we have planned and in store in terms of increasing our labour workforce. He did make a statement in the House the other day that there’s a labour market symposium going on right now, and I want to see what work this government is doing to prepare and increase labour skilled workforce to meet the needs of our regions that are flourishing right now: the Sahtu, Yellowknife with the diamond industry, in the future the Inuvik-Tuk highway, the fibre optic link. What is he doing right now to increase and develop our numbers in the skilled labour workforce?
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Member for asking that question. I had an opportunity this morning to speak to that labour force symposium that’s happening over the next two days. We have over 80 delegates. What we talked about at that level was partnership across the Northwest Territories, across the national stage. That’s what it comes down to with five regional training committees that have been established in partnership with ECE, ITI, and also Aboriginal organizations, industry, the Mine Training Society and also the college.
They work on a regular basis to address regional labour market needs. These committees also collaborate with all the partners in the region to address training requirements and provide opportunities in the region, including safety courses, mine training programs, ready to work programs, upgrading the current workforce skills such as the financial literacy programming provided in the South Slave region. Those are just some of the examples that we currently deliver in the region. There is also a Labour Market Agreement and a Labour Market Development Agreement from the federal government that we work with.
I was very happy to hear the Minister make reference to working in partnership with ITI. We must not also forget that we need partnerships with Human Resources, the Department of Health and Social Services, ENR and with some of the energy initiatives that we move forward with.
Can the Minister outline any incentive programs that his department is currently putting through to encourage our young Aboriginal men and women, our young indigenous Northerners the opportunity to take some of these labour jobs in terms of getting ready and prepared for all of the development that’s happening in the Sahtu, all the future development that’s going to happen in our region, and also continue to meet the standards that we set out in our socio-economic agreements with the diamond mines? Are there any incentive programs that are going to increase our workforce?
Again, creating partnerships in the regions in the Northwest Territories does have advantages and benefits. When it comes to providing incentives at the regional workforce development, we deal with the Mine Training Society, which deals with industries as well. We have industry representatives on there, ITI, ECE, and other Aboriginal organizations on the specific committee that delivers training in the regions. Not only that, there is also funding available through Aboriginal leadership, such as asset funding through the federal Minister. There is also, again, as highlighted earlier, labour market agreements that are for those individuals who would like to get training on the job who do not quality for EI subsidy. Also Labour Market Agreement. Labour Market Development Agreement is another program through the feds that is going through our ECE department to the communities. We’ll continue to push that into the communities because we know some of the communities, some of the regions are very active in oil and gas, other sectors, industries, activities. We’ll continue to develop those relationships in the communities.
In terms of devolution and decentralization I really strongly believe that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment holds a very important role on how this government moves forward in years to come in terms of education and training and getting our people ready to take on these jobs so that we can develop economic prosperity. I’d like to ask the Minister, what’s the status on the Apprenticeship Program for our northern workforce and also our trades program. What’s the status of our Apprenticeship Program throughout the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not have the specific detailed information I can provide to Members, but if I recall, there’s well over 400 registered apprentices in the Northwest Territories, and journeymen ticket holders as well. But I can provide the detailed information with accurate documentation.
With the devolution and decentralization into the regions, that’s a discussion we’ve been having, even since visiting Ottawa for NWT Days, having those positions transferred into the regions and into the communities. I believe that that’s the wish of this government, so we’ll continue to strive towards that.
With the decentralization, there will definitely be training. That’s where we come in as Education, Culture and Employment to deliver community-based training at that level. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to say that I look forward to getting information on this labour market symposium and some of the outcomes that came from that.
I’d just like to specifically ask the Minister, has he been coordinating and working with the leaders in my region and my communities in planning for some of the big projects that we’ve got on the timeline here, the Inuvik-Tuk highway, fibre optic link. Is he having those conversations with our leaders so that we can start the training sooner than later, so that when these jobs open up, our local people have jobs ready and are trained to take those jobs on. Is he having those discussions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The quickest answer would be yes, we are, as my department, along with other departments, even with the Premier. It has been addressed with the Gwich’in, the IRC, the Beaufort-Delta leadership. We’ve met with them. We’ve addressed their concerns, their issues, their ideas. They are preparing for the exploration activity that will be happening in their region. We are continuing to work with them. We want to be prepared to deliver those highly skilled individuals at the community level with the kind of training programs that are required.
I must say and commend the Inuvik area and the Beaufort-Delta. Trades on Wheels was a good asset benefitting the communities. That’s one of the economic arms that we’ve initiated through partnerships, and we may be looking at a similar type of model as we move forward. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about tourism and international exposure, and the opportunity of having Mr. Martin Strel, known as the Big River Man, swim down the Mackenzie River probably from Hay River or Fort Providence all the way to Tuktoyaktuk. I think it’s a huge opportunity and I had written to the Minister last year.
I’d like to ask the Minister, what would be the steps that we should take to continue this initiative.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, last year the Member wrote to myself and the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources in regard to the Big River Man and the swim down the Mackenzie. Although at first glance of the proposal it would appear that his idea wouldn’t match up with any funding program that the government currently has, our officials were going to contact Martin Strel himself and propose to help out in other ways, and that was to talk to communities along the proposed route and drum up support for such an event to happen. I’d have to go back to the department and see if they’ve actually had those discussions with Mr. Strel and see where this is all at. But, certainly, it has great promise to be a big event. Thank you.
The idea came from Mr. Sean Whelly, the mayor of Fort Simpson, and I’ve been pursuing it since last year and I have raised it with NWT Tourism. It’s a huge opportunity, I think, for international exposure, so if we could get the department onside and look for some resources. What kind of resources would the department have to fund such an international event?
Mr. Speaker, we’ve got a great team down in the Deh Cho in the Nahendeh riding, as the Member is aware, in Fort Simpson and other communities in the riding. We’d certainly be able to coordinate efforts with communities, with tourism operators in the area to make them aware of opportunities and drum up any potential sponsorships. I think that’s one area where, hopefully, the department would be able to help out in such an endeavour. Thank you.
I guess where the Minister can play a bigger role, too, and not only with his support, is such an event would cross many jurisdictions, so getting assistance from all the different ITI departments involved as he avoids the treacherous Jackfish all the way to Tuktoyaktuk, we’ll gladly need his assistance in coordinating that on an NWT-wide scale, if the Minister can commit to looking at something like that. Thank you.
Luckily enough, there’s no piranha in the Mackenzie River, so the worse he’ll have to fear is the Jackfish in the Mackenzie.
Certainly, we need to coordinate efforts. The swim would take place down the entire length of the Mackenzie, so it would include our ITI staff in the Sahtu and in the Mackenzie as well. So it would have to be a coordinated effort, if we are going to look at doing this. I’m going to go back to the department and see where discussions are at with Mr. Strel and his team on trying to pull this off.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think timing is of the essence. I think in order to make preparations, we have to begin those discussions now. If the Minister, with his continued support, we can begin these discussions with his department, with Mr. Mayor and the NWT Tourism could come up with a good plan that perhaps this event can happen this summer. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. That’s a comment. Would you like to reply, Mr. Ramsay?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll go back to the department and get a response for the Member as soon as possible. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement today, I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Some days I talk about what the Northwest Territories would look like without drugs and alcohol. That’s an exercise that I’d like to use as a bit of a visioning exercise.
We have many, many healthy people in the Northwest Territories and that’s something to celebrate and something I’m very happy about. But you know that political statement that’s always said no one left behind? There’s a lot of people who are living in bondage today to drugs and alcohol, who are being left and who are not realizing their potential in life. We cannot forget about them. This group that sits around in this room, as Mr. Miltenberger refers to as this august group, let’s face it, this is kind of the cream of the crop here and people may not be struggling with those kinds of things. But we cannot forget about those people who are out in our communities who struggle every day. We have to talk about it. We have to keep it in our consciousness.
To that end, our Minister of Health and Social Services struck a committee, an addictions forum, the Ministerial Forum on Addictions. These very good candidates who have gone out to the communities and have tried to engage people in the topic of addictions. But when they came to Hay River, they met with all the front-line workers, all the people who work in those. There was not a single person that I could see in that room that actually had a problem with addictions.
What is the Minister going to do with his forum on addictions to talk to the people in the homeless shelters, the people who are incarcerated, the kids in the school to get the discussion? Let’s talk with them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Members’ statements.
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The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would have no problem directing the forum to visit with the shelters or any facilities where there was an attraction of people that had addiction issues, recognize now that their plan was to have public meetings, and advertise and try to draw people to the meetings, recognizing that they could only draw the people that were interested in the topic. Sometimes they don’t have that interest in some communities, but we are finding that in the smaller communities they are getting a lot of interest. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, in a committee meeting when we were receiving a briefing from ECE the other day, and I’m not going to give away anything super confidential here, but we were talking to children about their education, and there was hardly any of them that did not talk about their ability to get an education in the absence of talking about the addiction to alcohol in their family, in their parents or in their community of one of those things. These were kids that we are talking about education, and they were talking about how many people in the community were drinking. That is an interesting correlation. As I said, the Minister has great people on the forum. Will the Minister commit to… You don’t need to send the whole panel, the whole group. Take someone like Paul Andrew, for example, who is chairing this.
Will the Minister commit to sending either one or two delegates from the commission into the places where we know there are people who could talk about their issues and shed some light on where we need to go and spend our dollars as a government? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, yes, I will commit to that. Thank you.
I think there are stories to be told. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I think that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission went a long ways towards the healing that comes from people being able to talk about their issues. So while I applaud the Minister for forming this group and sending them out, I think we need to talk to the people who can share the most with us, and I think that is the people affected every day by the addictions in the Northwest Territories.
When does the Minister expect to have results from the work of this commission? Is there still time to integrate this kind of very focused discussion that I’m talking about? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the plan is the fieldwork for the forum would be done by March 31st. Soon after that we are going to select a group of them and maybe even have other people involved to write the report. Yes, there would still be time for them to expand some of their fieldwork if necessary. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We heard our colleague today talk about training so that young Northerners can take advantage of economic growth, all kinds of things.
Will the Minister confirm that when we talk about the amount of money that we spend on social issues as the Government of the Northwest Territories, that addictions should be one of the highest priorities of this government? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that addictions are a cost-driver in our various systems. Addictions are a huge cost-driver in justice, also a huge cost-driver in health and health outcomes of our citizens.
Yes, I am trying to make that a priority for the government, as the House knows. We are trying to work with various groups in the community. We talk a lot about addictions across the territory, whether it be alcohol, drugs, or even cigarettes, for that matter. We spend a lot of time talking about those addictions, so we are trying to do something about that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, I had questions for the Minister of Health. The community of Hay River had a management board in place before; now it has been replaced with a public administrator. Will the Minister look at putting a public advisory board into the community of Hay River?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no plan to put a board back in place in Hay River immediately. We are looking at the legislation to see what type of management structures we would be allowed to have in the various authorities right across the territory, because right now the past board, as it stands, was a board for Hay River only.
When we build a new health centre and we were trying to bring some of the surrounding communities, as Mr. Bouchard indicated, they will provide service from that centre to some of the surrounding communities. For example, right now people drive from Fort Resolution to Hay River, get on a plane and come here for health services. It may be possible to provide the health service right in Hay River. It would save a lot of money on medical travel and so on. We want to see that restructuring of our health services based on the new modern health centre in Hay River will do before we decide to refill the board positions because they may be from other communities. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I understand the Minister’s issues with that. In the interim, the public has no effective way of communicating their concerns in the community with health issues. There is one public administrator, one person. If you don’t know that person… I am looking to see if the Minister would allow for an advisory board. I am not looking for the management of the operations; I am looking for an advisory board to give the public administrator some feedback from the community so that we can branch out the contacts in the community so that the community feels like they’re engaged with their health care system.
