Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Finance. The GNWT's Affirmative Action Policy dates back at least as far back as 1989, when it succeeded the Native Employment Policy. It was meant to even the playing field for Aboriginal people by giving us priority hiring opportunities when seeking employment with the GNWT. This was done out of a recognition that many Aboriginal people have faced systemic and other barriers to getting a good education and also when applying for a job. My question is: why has the Affirmative Action Policy not been updated in the last 30 years? What is preventing the GNWT from getting this done? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, for one, have seen some of the benefits in my riding of the results of Affirmative Action, and I do support it. If it hasn't been reviewed for a while, I think there is an opportunity to do a review, but it has reached some of the goals that it was intended to. Across government-wide, I think the Member pointed out before, we have only 1,533 Affirmative Action employees. Outside the capital, we have about 1,100. It is about 46 percent of our workforce outside the capital are P1 candidates, getting closer to the 50 percent. As our people start to be more and more educated and get into some of these positions, I think we are going to see those numbers rise. I am sure if you go community by community, you will probably see a higher percentage of Indigenous/Aboriginal employees within the communities themselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think the Minister has stated that some aspects of the policy is working, but I didn't hear a commitment. Will the Minister commit to having his department bring forward innovative ideas from improving Aboriginal employment rights? As an example, what about an Aboriginal employee advocate who is tasked to work with management to assist interested Aboriginal employees seeking employment with the GNWT?
I am not sure if we have an actual advocate within the department. I am sure a number of our staff people are working, trying to improve the percentages across the Northwest Territories, but I do know that we have a number of innovative new initiatives that we have been bringing forward. We have one I spoke to yesterday where we would like to work with some of the Indigenous Governments, take on some of their employees, provide them an opportunity to build some capacity, then they go back and serve the people who they represent. There are opportunities. I do believe that we have a lot of opportunities within the government system to help those who want to move through the system.
Again, I have always been a firm believer in trying to improve the numbers. I think that we have seen the numbers improve; I am confident that we have seen the numbers improve. My biggest thing is that I want to see the move through the system based on merit, and we have a lot of really good people out there who are going through the system based on what they bring to the table. I wouldn't want to put somebody in a position because they are a P1 candidate just to a fill a quota and have them fail at it. It doesn't do us any good.
My other question is: when the performance of deputy ministers is reviewed, are they graded on how successful they have been in reaching the Aboriginal employment targets that the policy is designed to reach?
The Premier is responsible for the discussions with the deputies, but I will assume that there are a number of goals that deputies have to achieve as part of their performance. Within the departments that I have had, I know that there are some opportunities in there for the deputies to try to improve the workforce and come up with new initiatives to improve the workforce. Again, I think we are getting there. I really think that we are getting there, and I believe that, in the future, there are going to be more and more Indigenous P1 representatives within the GNWT, but they will get there based on merit.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is pretty clear that, yes, indeed, there should be a system to help Indigenous people, and I think that the Minister has clearly stated that it should be based on merit. I agree with that. Is it a standard employment practice that anyone applying for a GNWT job, anyone, must first write a written test? Are exceptions being made for Aboriginal people applying for jobs, especially in areas such as labour, where writing is not a required skill or, for example, where their Aboriginal language could be used? Mahsi.
I understand that there are some tests that applicants have to take. Like everyone else, they do the test to see if they qualify for the position, and if the qualify for the position, on top of being a P1 candidate, that would help them get to the next stage. I have seen cases where a number of Aboriginal people who were working within the system were doing some quality work, but didn't quite meet some of the qualifications that were required. I think that we have taken some steps to correct that. I have heard of cases where people were being brought in to do a job that the applicant in the same office, who had been doing it for a while, was not qualified to do; so who is tasked with training the new person coming in? The applicant who wasn't qualified to do the job. Thankfully things worked out at the end; the two people in the office did move into managerial positions because they had been doing that work for a long time, but based on the paper qualifications, they didn't really have them.
I think that that was a good case of applicants and our people moving through the system based on their ability to do the job. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
