Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment implement an exercisable right for Northerners to full K to 12 immersion in each local Indigenous official language;
And further, to achieve this vision, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment should prioritize Indigenous language revitalization in the ongoing Education Act modernization. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to note that this right exists in Nunavut and what they have done is their plan to roll it out, it goes until 2038. And I think that's the kind of multigenerational thinking you need if we're actually going to ever achieve this. And part of their plan speaks to they actually need to have students go through the education system, become fluent so they can then become teachers. So that's the kind of thinking they're at with this. And I believe as we go on to review our Education Act, language rights need to be a key part of it. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories respond to this report within 120 days. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Thank you, committee. Do you agree that you concluded consideration of Committee Report 4919(2)?
Agreed.
Thank you, committee. We have concluded consideration of Committee Report 4919(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the 20212022 Review of the Official Languages Act.
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Committee, we have agreed to consider Committee Report 5119(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Indigenous Representation in the Northwest Territories Public Service. I will go to the chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations for any opening comments. Member for Yellowknife North
Thank you, Madam Chair. The Standing Committee on Government Operations made it a priority to find ways to increase Indigenous representation in the Northwest Territories public service. This work began in 2020, and the committee's report was read into the record on March 28, 2023. The committee met with people in person and virtually in communities across the Northwest Territories to hear their perspectives on this matter.
The committee consistently heard a deep longstanding disappointment with the government as an employer and a viewpoint that the system is intended to keep Indigenous people out of the public service. The recommendations formulated by the committee address the main concerns heard by members of the public: The government needs to improve the way competitions are held; decentralize operations; create a fair and transparent appeal process; implement mechanisms to hold hiring managers accountable; set hiring targets; and, be cautious of potential problems with limiting the definition of Indigenous. The committee asks the government to recognize the reconciliatory intent of these recommendations and to implement these recommendations in relevant policies.
The committee expresses gratitude to everyone who took the time to meet with committee, in person and virtually, and made the effort to provide us with their thoughts in writing. I would like to thank committee for their work on this review. Individual Members may have additional comments. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mahsi. I will now open the floor to general comments on committee report. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this I'm glad that we got this report done. The work that we did in this report, you know, one thing that I have to say about the this priority and this report is that when we came into this House, this was a priority of one of the things that I discussed in my campaign. This was something that as a hiring manager and as an employee, as an Indigenous employee of the GNWT for many years, you know, I lived a lot of these things. So I want to also so I want to thank the people that came forward and the people of the Northwest Territories that shared with us their concerns with this. This has been many years in the making. Like, we've had the Affirmative Action Policy. There's been so many issues with the affirmative action policies. We needed to move that needle. The Minister of Finance who is the Minister of human resources with all her other portfolios under that title, you know, I know that her department and I want to thank her department of all the work that they've also been doing. You know, since we got in this House, raising the you know, all these programs in this House has actually maxed out a lot of the Indigenous recruitment programs, you know, we've highlighted a lot of the things in this government and, you know, I've met with the Minister; I've met with Minister and her staff on HR issues. So they've been very live to a lot of the issues. And so this report, you know, being able to table this report and put these recommendations, I know that the framework, a lot of the framework that they the Indigenous Recruitment Framework, they line up with, and so I'm hoping that when we do get our response in 120 days, we are going to be so happy. And so again, like I said, that for general comments, I just wanted to you know, I could talk to every one of these motions but I won't today. There might be a couple I might title just to clarify and, again, like I said, thanks to the people of the Northwest Territories, we are working for you. We did hear you, and we're trying to make this change. And I think this legislative has really upped the ante on this Indigenous recruitment and improving the numbers. So I thank Cabinet, and I thank all the Members for making this stand out. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Are there any other general comments? Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Affirmative Action Policy reflect its objective and intent and mitigate the disadvantage and underrepresentation of Indigenous persons in the NWT public sector by implementing a P1only competition. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think the Affirmative Action Policy that we've had for many years hasn't done justice for what we want to see. So creating and implementing a priority 1only competition is what we want, and that's why this priority's here. We want to see Indigenous people, you know. We don't want to water it down. We don't want to blind the lines blur the lines. So we want to make sure that priority 1 candidates are given the opportunity first to be given the opportunity to do the interviews and possibly get the jobs. You know, and once we're at par, we can revisit this and maybe it'll be sooner than later. And I'll be happy to be hopefully not in this place when that comes. But, I mean, so that's why this priority and this recommendation is here. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I'm pleased to see this. And, you know, the Charter of Rights allows for such a policy. And, you know, when we talk about affirmative action, I think it's important that we make we make it alone a priority. We like, my colleague said, we seem to be watering down, you know, the interpretation a bit and the policy. So I'm glad that it is being made or this motion did come forward. It's clear and concise.
The one thing, though, I guess, that you I would recommend as well is that I know there's some discussion about possibly changing the definition of Indigenous person, which I would ask that it remain as is going forward with any new policy. And I think that we're looking at the Indigenous Employment Policy. But other than that I'm pleased to see that we are making this a priority because at the end of the day, affirmative action is about bringing Indigenous people into the public sector. Thank you.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories identify which headquarters positions can be located to the regions, which jobs can be tagged as flexible and moved among a number of locations, and those that could be classified as remote working arrangements aiming to allow priority 1 employees to work in the community of residence. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, again, now I'm pleased to see this one as well because, you know, if we expect to increase the number of Indigenous people in the public sector, decentralization is going to be important. But when we talk about decentralization, we used to talk about it as, you know, moving a department or a part of a department. I think we have to look at, as it says here, as look at individuals and if we move individuals and they can still do the work, you know, we do have individuals working in southern Canada right now that, you know, that are seem to be it seems to be working out okay. So this is a good move and I think that, you know, for the Indigenous people that don't want to move out of their communities, which there's probably many, this is a great way to proceed. Thank you.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories establish uniform, clear, and accessible appeal process for public service positions that establishes a mechanism empowering priority 1 candidates with the ability and enough time to appeal a hiring decision before a job is offered to a nonpriority 1 candidate; operates independently and arm's length from government; and, an appeal body that is representative of the Indigenous population with a minimum Indigenous membership of 50 percent; clearly outlines how appeals can be requested and considered; contains clear terms of reference for fair and consistent appeal process; and, ensures availability and accessibility of the support by Indigenous staff of the diversity and inclusion unit to the Indigenous candidate. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The motion is in order. To the motion. MLA Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is one thing that we heard that Indigenous employees, they don't even apply anymore because they feel that there's no process with the affirmative action and the appeals process, there's nothing that can help them even call out when there are injustices in the hiring process. So this is why we said before a P2 or a P3 is offered a position, and if there is a P1 candidate that was interviewed, passed an interview that didn't get the offer, that they are notified that a P2 you know, that they didn't get the offer to a P2 or a P3 because this has happened. There has been statements that come to us that this has happened because people say that the other you know, the Affirmative Action Policy is not done across the board in the territory the same way. And so this gives the opportunity for a P1 to appeal and then somebody outside that process that did the interviewing can look and make sure the process was done and if they followed a policy accordingly because under the policy if a P1 passes the interview, then they should be offered the job. There shouldn't be a P2 and a P3 that they're competing against. But this happens. It happens over and over again. So that's why this motion is there. And we want to make sure that we're doing what we said we were doing in this. So thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
Carried
Member for Yellowknife North.
Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories, for the purpose of capacity building, make it a standard policy to ensure that an Indigenous person consistently occupies at least one assistant deputy minister position within all departments; consistently staffs all regional supervisor positions with Indigenous employees; promotes and requires, where possible, that all public boards and agencies have a minimum level of Indigenous representation within the overall makeup of their board of directors; requires, where possible, for agencies to invest in hiring Indigenous employees and follow the Affirmative Action Policy. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion. MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you. We've just seen this in the lands or environment and climate change. They've targeted a position, a regional ADM position that is it gives the room for somebody in the region to an Indigenous person to grow into an ADM position, which gives them that experience. And I think the thing is that in the government, sometimes the Indigenous people are left to the side because all of the positions are in Yellowknife and not necessarily are they known and their experience is known to move up into these roles. So this is where you know, this might not happen overnight. But this is this is a plan. This is a goal. And this is a motion. So we're asking it to be looked at seriously, that this can be done, so we can see more Indigenous people in our senior management. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mahsi. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
