Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is not a practice within human resources of branding or blacklisting applicants on mass. That is not how the Human Resources process works. GNWT hiring must comply with various pieces of legislation, including the Public Service Act, The Human Resources Manual, Staffing Appeal Regulations, and The Collective Agreement. And it is certainly the responsibility of everyone who is tasked from the Department of Human Resources to do those things.

Department of Finance does have to work, of course, with all GNWT departments with all of the hiring managers...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the division of Human Resources within the Department of Finance is really, they service the clients of all they're the departments of their clients. So this is again not something that we can look at one or two or a handful of individuals who are being  who are within the department or within the Department of Finance. It is about the entire Government of the Northwest Territories, every department, every community, and every hiring manager out there that they are taking the mandatory training, both in terms of cultural sensitivity, that they are taking...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, those are two separate questions. Mr. Speaker, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is one of the core and founding things that every government in this country right now needs to be paying attention to and acting upon. And I firmly and personally believe very much in what is spoken of the calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Speaking separately about the work of the Department of human resources and the hiring practices of human resources, again, there's quite a lot that's going on to improve what we have in human resources here in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the question began with a discussion of outofYellowknife hire. So just to give some sense, about ten days ago before the rally, the numbers, we were already at 71 regional hires, and that's hires I think not pending as compared to 2019 when we were at 80. So, again, we're not tracking too badly just yet. And, again, the numbers have, indeed, gone up even in just the last ten days.

As for entirely revamping the summer student program and modifying substantially how we will fund it, I'm certainly not in a position to give a firm yes on that standing in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, Mr. Speaker, there's been an effort being made to keep numbers updated. Indeed, it's been a bit of a rally of late. So I am pleased to say that the numbers are improving. We're still a little bit behind where we were in 2019. I won't use 2020 as a comparator given what was going on a year ago with COVID.

But with respect to the 2019 comparison, Mr. Speaker, we're actually pretty close right now, whereas in at this time in 2019, we had approximately 247, and if we include the pending hires, we're only at 245, if I'm reading correctly on my numbers. So we're not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the appeal process provides an opportunity for someone who's an unsuccessful candidate to review a procedural error. So, in other words, that there was something that was not applied correctly in terms of applying with certain rules, certain element of The Collective Agreement, the Affirmative Action Policy. It's not a doover on an application, and it's not an opportunity to question a job description or to question the qualifications or equivalencies, which, again, Mr. Speaker, those qualifications and equivalencies are set up before the screening gets...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, human resources have representatives who act as facilitators on hiring committees with whatever department they might be working with. The point of doing that, the point of having human resources present, is, in fact, to ensure, again, that the hiring process remains fair, follows all of the regulations, rules, The Collective Agreement, policy, et cetera. Selection committee members then, of course, if they are in a conflict, are to remove themselves. If there's any relationship to a candidate or any potential for bias, they are not to take part in that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents: Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022; and Supplementary Estimates (Operation Expenditures), No. 1, 20212022. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, speaking about a culture of hiring, Mr. Speaker, I don't accept that that characterization is fair, that the idea of saying that it is troubled and has double standards or is unfair. I don't accept that characterization, Mr. Speaker. There's a lot of people within the entire GNWT, 5,000 strong, who care deeply about the territory, who care deeply about the people that they serve, and care deeply about having a representative workforce. That is not to say that every process is perfect. That is not to say that every public servant is perfect any more than...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, I don't agree that the entire hiring system of the GNWT is not transparent. It is certainly a complex system at times. There are quite a number of pieces of legislation policy that need to be adhered to and followed. The Collective Agreement has to be adhered to and followed. And in doing so, that, again, that does require a fairly rigorous process and a fairly sometimes one might think of it being a complex process. If it's not always very well understood, just as the Affirmative Action Policy is not always very well understood. And all of those...