Robert Hawkins

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to continue asking questions regarding the vacant positions with the Minister of Human Resources.

The Minister should know I’m not asking him to account for whether it’s the Department of Justice or Education or Finance or those things. I’m asking him from his policy position as Minister and steward of Human Resources.

The Minister just confirmed that some positions have been deliberately left vacant and I’ve been told by some people in the bureaucracy, even as of today, that some positions’ money is being left vacant, and that money is being left...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on what the Minister of Human Resources continues to keep talking about. He keeps talking about infrastructure.

I fail to understand why infrastructure is such an issue with Northerners being hired, but it’s okay to go to Ottawa to hire people even though we may not have infrastructure here. Maybe the Minister of Human Resources can explain what infrastructure means and, in that regard, why it matters when it comes to employing Northerners but infrastructure isn’t an issue when you go to Ottawa to hire those folks there. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Bureau of Stats website is an amazing source of information. It says there are about 2,000 people unemployed who are looking for work in the Northwest Territories. That 800 set of jobs would do significant damage to that 2,000 level of unemployed, Mr. Speaker.

The last point I will make, in the Handley government it was 5.65 percent unemployment; in the Roland government it was 6.625 percent unemployment; and now in the McLeod government we are now into 8.15 percent unemployment in the Northwest Territories.

What is this Minister going to do to put a dent into this huge level...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is certainly a great pleasure to have the opportunity to follow up on my Member’s statement. I want to find out, first and foremost, what is the government doing to promote these 800 vacancies, as highlighted by the government, and certainly reaffirmed by the Minister of Finance that 571 jobs are being actively recruited by this government.

I will ask the Minister of Human Resources, what is he doing to ensure that Northerners have an opportunity at these jobs first and foremost, because when you look on the website it only shows about 100, 120 jobs. Where are we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends the government allocate 25 percent of new resource revenues annually to the NWT Heritage Fund, commencing in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, the final question begs the question about, you know, where is the money. Some of these jobs were probably vacant a short period, some are probably vacant long periods, but when you add up to 571 jobs, as stated by the Finance Minister, that’s a lot of money sitting doing nothing.

So the question is: How much money are we talking about and where is it going if it’s not employing people? That answer certainly deserves a little light and the public deserves to know. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we still fail to seem to get the answer to why these 800 jobs are, what I would say, a relative secret. Why would we be hiding these employment opportunities to Northerners? When you go to the website and you don’t see them there but it is okay to take the show on the road to Ottawa, and maybe make one northern stop, what’s the government’s benefit of keeping them a secret? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the government doing placement opportunities, giving Northerners a chance. I hear from the public and they are concerned that these job opportunities are being held away from them. In other words, that they’re not seeing these opportunities and benefits. Of course, at the same time as the last point is, they start to ask themselves, why bother to live and invest here with their families in the future if this government shows little interest in them.

I want to know what this Minister is going to do to show that these jobs matter, and that Northerners matter, and...

I’ve been contacted by public members who have gone to the job website and are not seeing them there. Of course, it’s a huge concern of theirs that they feel that the government is slapping them in the face when the first whistle stop is Ottawa. What’s next? Vancouver, maybe Edmonton, before Inuvik or Hay River or even Yellowknife?

My question now to the Minister of Human Resources is: What is he going to do to demonstrate that he’s in charge of this file and showing that he’s actively looking for people in the Northwest Territories for these jobs? Because right now, as everybody knows, these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the public becomes increasingly aware, the ideas and concerns of Regular Members seem to matter little with this government. I ask anyone to show me one recommendation from Members and the committees in this budget.

However, the interested public here watching us do our work certainly get to realize that we learn things all the time, such as these job vacancy rates.

I have to give credit to MLA Blake and certainly MLA Groenewegen the other day, who certainly got it right. When it comes to those 800 vacancies, the public wants to know, where are they? This government...