Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Madam Chair. There is a lot to unpack in the Member's comment. I am not in a position, in the context of a supplementary appropriation that is involving the scoping of the Northwest Territories project, to commit to what may or may not be happening on the Nunavut side, other than to assure, again, that this is envisioned as being a partnership with Nunavut. It is indeed something that is of an Arctic nature and putting Canada as a country into being more of an actual Arctic country in terms of actually exploring and connecting all of our Arctic regions. I am confident that there...

Madam Chair, I appreciate the Member's candid remarks. I can only assure the House, broadly speaking, that this is a project that is of tremendous significance to the Northwest Territories. It is, as I understand it, supported over in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. It is being done under a business case and with a cost benefit analysis. It is multi-departmental. It will involve ENR, and it will involve Lands, so I am sure that there will be plenty of opportunity, whether through this project or through the other work of the other departments, to review the impacts on the caribou as it goes...

Madam Chair, as I've said, I am confident there has been a cost benefit analysis and a business case provided. What I will do first is to identify what was shared with the last committee, ensure that the current composition of the committees have that information available to them, and certainly, if what was shared before was unsatisfactory, then we'll have to go back and confirm so that the committee can be assured of the analysis of the cost benefits, of the very positive cost benefits, of the Slave Geologic Province to the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, one of the most important parts for the Department of Finance in this regard is to ensure the relationship that we have with the unions, the UNW, and the NWT Teachers' Association. That, certainly, has been part and parcel of going forward with those plans to ensure that we are engaged with them, and that they are also aware of any steps that are being taken with respect to the Public Service Act.

In addition to which, this certainly is something that has been worked on extensively in the department over the last couple of months and is continuing...

It is part of an annual budgeting process where there are $40,000 in total available through the Department of Finance to departments that they seek to avail themselves of the program, to a maximum of 15 positions per year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a fairly new program. I believe that is the first year, and, if I am wrong, I will commit to correcting that. In 2018-2019, in that fiscal year, there were 12 department applications, and in 2019-2020, there were seven. In total at the moment, there are 19 positions that are going through that Indigenous Career Gateway Program. Thank you.

The powers under the Residential Tenancies Act were recently transferred from being restricted to the Territorial Court to Supreme Court, which certainly did increase the suite of options available to judges and improve the options in terms of their enforceability. The Residential Tenancies Act is aimed at essentially settling disputes between individuals who have civil disputes. Certainly, the suggestion that there should be powers more akin to criminal law powers is not going to be appropriate or even possible within the jurisdiction of the act. To that extent, in my view, it is already...

Mr. Speaker, in fact, we have once -- once -- to my knowledge laid a charge, back in 2001.

Many, many years ago, there were some reviews of the Affirmative Action Policy but it has certainly not been any time within recent memory. I can confirm, Mr. Speaker, I have already requested and received a briefing on specifically the issue of the Affirmative Action Policy from the department. It, certainly, is on the radar, if I might say so in that way, that it is something the department is alive to, and that there may be a need to modernize that policy. For the moment, the next step would simply be to do that work within the department, and to bring it to Cabinet to see that it does see...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Affirmative Action Policy is one tool that the Government of the Northwest Territories uses to ensure that we have a representative workforce, and in so doing, in addition to having that policy and having that in place for all hiring across the Northwest Territories, there are efforts made in the course of the careers recruitment process to provide assistance. There is a help section within the website and within the department that could assist individuals in terms of resume writing and can assist them with interview preparation. In addition to that...