Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Firstly, the ability to provide bonuses to senior employees is really one of the only opportunities to provide some ongoing increase or benefits to those senior employees who are not anymore on the same step grade as other GNWT employees. Certainly, I would dispute the idea that this is an opportunity to find cuts. Every department's variance reports are available and can be looked at by the Members, including the Ministers, and I would think, if there were ongoing cuts being used inappropriately, that should come to light through a variety of other routes and tools and mechanisms.
That said, I understand the frustration with what is a policy or a process that is, perhaps, one with which people are not familiar. I mistakenly thought I actually had some numbers in front of me. I apologize, Madam Chair; I don't, so I will have to get back to the Member with some specific values, and I wonder, although it's a small issue, it is one that I can see would come up and would be a source of frustration, it may be one on which the appropriate committee wants to sit down with the Department of Finance to review in more detail, and to have a bit more of a discussion around the background and why this is there, and some of the policy rational that restricts the payment of those bonuses. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. As the deputy chair of the relevant committee, I will take that into consideration. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize that, when we want to attract good talent, we have to pay bonuses. My concern is that there is no transparency in how much those are. They're not even budgeted for. I would like a commitment from the Department of Finance that we will publicly disclose what we paid last year for bonuses, and we can get some sort of transparency going forward on what that amount is.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I would certainly commit to improving the transparency of the process, the transparency of the decisions made around bonuses. As to exactly the payment of the bonuses, I'm going to take that one away under advisement. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to switch here to the Affirmative Action Policy. Does the department have any plans to update the Affirmative Action Policy?
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. That policy, specifically, I have very recently committed to offering a technical and confidential briefing to the relevant committee to look at that policy in greater depth and to look at some of the reviews that have been done of that policy, and to determine the best course forward in lockstep with all Members of the House or with Members of that committee. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. One of my issues is we keep getting commitments to have technical briefings with confidential committees, and the whole point of sitting in this House is to be more transparent. I believe the Affirmative Action Policy has turned into the sacred cow that we're all afraid to touch due to the fact that there's a potential Charter challenge for people who reside in the Northwest Territories to have preferred status. That is not Indigenous people, that is indigenous to the North; Indigenous, not Aboriginal. It is the fear of that Charter challenge that has prevented us from ever updating our Affirmative Action Policy, which is not working. I would like a commitment from the Minister of Finance that they are going to take the steps that no other Minister has wanted to do, and updated the Affirmative Action Policy.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, I am not going to commit to taking steps to update something until I know whether it needs to be updated, or perhaps if there are other tools that will actually accomplish the goal at hand. Madam Chair, in my view, the goal at hand is to have a representative workforce and to improve the representation of the workforce. My commitment is to make sure that we look for the best possible way to achieve that goal. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Anything further on Finance, human resources? Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. I disagree with some of the Minister's comments. When I looked at this, I still get some complaints from my constituents about this policy. I said before, if you look at any government department across the country, they try to make it so that their working population is the reflection of the population it serves. Not so, the way it is here right now. That still upsets me. I think we could still make some changes. I think there are some real changes we can make here, I believe, if we take the commitment from a legal standpoint, because I heard there might be a Charter challenge; let's get through that. I do have one main question here. I know that a large part of our Affirmative Action Policy is the aspect of self-reporting, where new employees or employees have to declare what status they are. My question is: how is the Minister going to review this and see if the reporting is accurate as they say it is, for lack of a better word, Madam Chair?
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I acknowledge and accept the Member's frustration that the workforce in the GNWT continues to not be as representative as we would all like it to be. I expect that is going to be something that I am tasked to accomplish in the next few years, to at least try to make some movement on that dial and to improve the percentages and the numbers to be more truly reflective of the population that we serve.
Madam Chair, the tools with which we will do that, and the way that we will accomplish that, simply is not something that I am prepared to speak to on the fly in this context. It is something that is going to occupy, I have no doubt, a large part of the time that I spend in the Department of Finance working with the Department in Finance, since human resources is a significant portion of what they do.
Again, I am certainly going to commit to the fact that I expect to have to spend time on that, to develop the proper system, to ensure that we have the right tools, whether it's in the Affirmative Action Policy or otherwise, and whether that requires re-examining the self-reporting or if there's some other way that we can achieve the goal of truly representing who people are in our work force. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a quick comment, I guess, about this policy, too, as well, like, the self-reporting aspect. My biggest fear is, from what I have seen, I believe that there is a significant portion of our government workforce who are not reporting properly, and I feel that a lot of people are falling through the cracks who should be getting jobs and aren't. That's where I was going with this. That's all I have to say on this. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Next on my list, the Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Madam Chair. I realize there are some protections in place for GNWT employees. The 2019-2020 business plan indicated that labour relations would be working on improving the implementation of the Harassment Free and Respectful Workplace Policy in regard to adding capacity for mediation or alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and supporting training. Does the Minister know what the status is of this work? Masi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I know there have been some improvements in terms of increasing the capacity to undertake that work. I would like to get back to the Member with a more specific answer around whether or not there is anything left to do and, perhaps, be able to provide more detail with respect to what may be happening in different regions. That is not something that I have in front of me. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi. If she can include with that how many investigations were undertaken in 2018-2019 and how does this compare with previous years, if she could include that with that report. Moving on to the staffing appeals process, the Public Service Annual Report did not report any number of appeals. The 2018-2019 annual report indicates five out of 71 appeals were upheld. The department is asserting that the low number of staffing appeals upheld is a reflection that the department is doing a good job administering its staffing process. The question, I guess, is: what percentage of employees who apply for GNWT jobs are eligible to file an appeal? Mahsi.
Oh, you asked that already? Seeing that the question may have been asked already, my mistake; I don't know if he asked the next one. What information is an unsuccessful candidate who is eligible to appeal provided to enable them to form the grounds for an appeal?
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have the annual human resources report in front of me. Specific numbers are something that, I said earlier and I'll say it again, I'll certainly get the specific numbers of the total percent that were eligible to file appeals and some breakdowns in terms of what I may be able to provide additionally about the outcomes on appeals. I'm a bit challenged to describe the specifics of any appeal, because, obviously, the specifics of what makes for an appeal are the specifics of each appeal, but we may be able to put an aggregate together to describe, perhaps, the top few reasons why appeals are brought and then, perhaps, the top few reasons of why appeals are successful. That might help clarify what kinds of appeals are being brought and which ones are successful, so that there is some clarity around that. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Deh Cho.
Maybe just a final comment on that. Internally, within the GNWT, because I was there myself, we apply to jobs that are internal to a department. When we are unsuccessful, we are not notified of anything. We're not given any notification whatsoever of why we were denied the positions and stuff like that. I think we need to improve in that department, anyways. I just wanted to make that comment. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Are there any further comments on the Department of Finance human resources? Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I had a concern from a constituent last week, and it had to do with internal job postings versus advertised. The person was outside the department and applied, but the job was actually, I guess, filled internally. I am wondering how many of the positions that become available are filled internally by the departments. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I will be able to get that number and provide it to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The next one is affirmative action. That's a tough one for me, because I guess I'm always concerned about changing things that have been in place for a while. We talk about things being grandfathered in, because if you change something, it does open up a can of worms. That one, we have to give some thought to. In terms of P1 hires, are there any stats on the number of positions that have been filled that have both P1s and non-P1s applying for it, and what the percentage of successful P1s were, and how many of those P1s who were unsuccessful challenged or appealed? Two parts. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, I am going to apologize in advance. I think I was busy getting part number one settled and may not have entirely caught number two, but let me do my best. New hires that are P1: the percent total is 24.1 percent in 2019, April 1 to April 31, 2019, so not a full year. That's 24.1 percent. The second part is gone. I apologize, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. If there was 24 percent that were successful, of the remaining percentage, which should be 76 percent, how many P1s actually applied in that 76 percent, and how many, if they were unsuccessful, appealed those hires? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I don't have my numbers broken down that way, but I'm confident that we can provide that information. I'll do so. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. The next point is, I guess, on bonuses. I can see the value in paying bonuses, but at the same time, I see the value in housing people on the street, as well. It's kind of a hard position for us to be put in. I'm just wondering if the department has talked to the employees receiving bonuses, and I'd like to know how important it is for those employees to receive those bonuses? Would it mean that, if they didn't receive it, they would be gone the next day? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Madam Chair, to my knowledge, that kind of interview has not been conducted. Again, I have heard this issue raised now by Members on more than one occasion, so it is clear that we will have to provide, and as I've said, I will commit to providing some more transparency about the process, the considerations that go into the payment of bonuses, and how it's done. Again, I certainly can assure the Members, at least for this point, that it's not done by way of taking funds out from other programs. It's meant to be funded internally, and there are caps on the total amount that is able to be spent on any one senior-level, and it is low. It's certainly not the Ministers. I will provide that transparency, Madam Chair, and see if I can't help clarify. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to go back to the P1s again. Thinking about that, say you've got two people, you've got a P1, and the other person is not. It comes down, and the P1, if they have the minimum requirements for the position, will they be hired? Is that what we can expect, or is there something else in there that would stop that from happening? Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, if a P1 has applied on a position, meets the requirements, and the passing grade for the various positions are set in conjunction and collaboration between human resources and departments, and if a P1 passes whatever the passing grade is, taking into account all of the qualifications, then the P1 gets the position, even if a non-P1 has a higher grade. Thank you, Madam. Chair.
