Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will be to the Minister of Human Resources. What currently does the GNWT do to link students with job opportunities throughout the GNWT?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of different things that we do. One of the things that we do is the Graduate Internship Program. Since 2001, over 300 northern graduates have been supported through this Graduate Internship Program. We do market this program to students through a number of different ways. The GNWT Messenger, posters displayed in Yellowknife, through the Human Resources, direct e-mail blast from Student Financial Assistance, newspaper advertisement and Bear Facts. We have a budget of $1.3 million. We can support about 33 internships a year at $40,000 an internship. We also have summer student employment for returning students.
To date, this fiscal year, we have hired 197 students with 17 more job offers in the queue. Last year we supported 308 students. We expect to support around the same number again. I have had conversations with my ministerial colleagues, encouraging them to have their departments hire as many students as we can reasonably.
Through the Department of Health and Social Services and Maximizing Northern Employment, we have the Graduate Placement Program for nurses and social workers, and through Education, Culture and Employment, graduate placement for teachers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister for those answers. What priorities are given to those NWT students returning for employment in the Northwest Territories and the GNWT?
Mr. Speaker, for the Internship Program, the northern students are given priority as outlined in the Affirmative Action Policy, because the internship programs are just for returning students so it is offered to them only. Summer Student Employment, the program is in place to help summer students get jobs for the summer months. Once again, the Affirmative Action Policy applies. For graduate placement for nurses and social workers as well as teachers, once again affirmative action applies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, what is the GNWT doing to link these students that are starting out in their first or second year and they talk about what they want to be, whether they want to be teachers, doctors, lawyers, businesspeople? What are they doing linking those students in the potential employment that we know that aging population is affecting the GNWT as well as many industries? What are we doing to link those students as early as possible to those positions in the NWT?
Mr. Speaker, for things like nurses and social workers and teachers, it is a little easier because we have programs designed specifically for those. We do know the students that are in the northern program here in Yellowknife for social work and for nursing, for education as well. That one is a little easier to link to.
For students in the South who are interested in coming to the North to work in a variety of professions – the Member mentioned things like a lawyer or these other trades – it is a little bit more difficult. Through Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, we do have some limitations in our ability to go through Education, Culture and Employment and directly link to those students. It is a challenge. It is something we are in discussions with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, finding a way so that we can direct contact those students based on the area of profession that they are interested in, but we are not, and more work is required on that.
For the Summer Student Program for the students who are going to be going back to school, we do have a Related Experience Program, so those individuals who have identified what profession they are pursuing, we can bring them in as casuals in areas where they need to or if they are interested in working in the future, and by that way we do develop a relationship with those students. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, along the lines, we talked about decentralizing and devolution. Obviously, this is an important factor for students coming in as well. How does the human resource development work to develop not only the big city of Yellowknife – you mentioned Yellowknife, obviously – but throughout the regions and throughout the smaller communities?
The Member, in his opening statement, made reference to the training program that he went through, and the government used to have a number of training programs from entry-level and officer-level positions. We don’t have that per se today, but it is one of the things we’re looking at through the Regional Recruitment Plan. The Regional Recruitment Plan will be put in front of committee in short order here. One of the things that we’re talking about in that particular plan is on-the-job training programs that will help individuals obtain employment with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
---Interjection
Okay. I was going to give you a fifth one but, Mr. Bouchard, I’m sorry. My fault. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
