Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I made a statement in terms of summer students, students that spend the time and sacrifice going out to school and coming back for the summer and trying to work and save their money so that they can go back with a good savings account. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. What kind of summer jobs are available for summer students for the communities that I represent? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m actually not aware of any specific jobs in the riding that the Member represents. I know that one summer student has been hired. The Premier has given the Ministers direction to hire as many students as can be afforded and as operational requirements allow. So we will be working to hire as many students as we can throughout the Northwest Territories.
Thank you. My question now is: Why is there only one student that was hired from my constituency? Mahsi.
Thank you. I don’t know. I will talk to my ministerial colleagues. We will talk about opportunities that are out there, and the Premier has directed us to look at not just Yellowknife, but all communities in the Northwest Territories where jobs exist and to hire as many students as we can. So I’ll certainly bring your message forward to the Cabinet table. Thank you.
Thank you. My final question is: Is there a target number that the government is aiming for in terms of hiring students? I know there was a target, but for this summer is there a target that this government is aiming for? Mahsi.
Thank you. I believe last year we got about 280, 281, 282, somewhere around there. So far this year we’ve hired 241. I’ll have an update of numbers for all Members tomorrow. It continues to move. We hope to hire as many as we can. We’d obviously like to see numbers similar to what we’ve had in the past, but as we’ve indicated, there are obviously some financial limitations and the department will be hiring as many students as they can both afford and that there’s work for.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
