Mr. Speaker, the North is full of dedicated Indigenous people who are eager to contribute their great skills to our public services.
In the 19th Assembly, I was closely involved in looking for ways to increase Indigenous hiring to the GNWT workforce, participating in the reports on the Indigenous representation in the Northwest Territories public service. I want to thank my colleagues at the time who participated and the chair and the cochair, Rylund Johnson and Frieda Martselos, as well as the Member from Kam Lake and the other Member from Inuvik Twin Lakes. A lot of hard work went into this subject in the 19th Assembly because it was vital that we make our public service representative of our population. Unfortunately, successive governments have been working towards these goals for decades but the number of Indigenous people in our public service has remained the same. I know now that the Ministers are preparing a work plan to increase Indigenous hiring in their departments, so now this government has another great opportunity to shape our and start making meaningful action towards achieving a diverse public service that is truly representative of the Northwest Territories. This is why I want to mention some of the things I'm hearing from my communities.
I have heard about several instances and situations of my constituents on this matter that are very concerning. These constituents are proud Indigenous people who have a lot to offer the GNWT, were forced out of their positions and replaced by nonIndigenous staff. One constituent worked for 12 years before she was forced out of their position so their supervisor could accommodate a P3 transfer. This constituent is not only one example. I have seen this happen all too often in my departments. We can talk about representation of workforce all we want. We can write action plans, strike committees, and give speeches in the House about our priorities for every department but we need to follow those words with action. Action means we cannot keep turning a blind eye to managers and administrators ignoring Ministers' guidelines and hire their friends and family instead.
Hearing these stories from my constituents tells me that we are moving forward but moving backwards and that if we keep moving backwards then our public service will be stuck at 30 percent of Indigenous hires. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Premier at the appropriate time. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member from Tu NedheWiilideh. Members' statements. Member from Deh Cho.
