Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on the questions asked by my colleague from Hay River North with regard to what seems to be a problem with graduating students who are born, raised and educated in the North and then seek post-secondary education under our Student Financial Assistance Program. We back them all the way, but when they get back here, it seems that whatever policies we have in place, they are fantastic on paper and even some of the statistics that the Minister quoted today sound very good, but there must be something lost in translation, just by the sheer number of students that we know of that come back to the North who have a very difficult time successfully applying for jobs within the public service of the GNWT.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister who oversees, to ensure that the policies of this government, with respect to hiring young Northerners coming back to the North for a position, to make sure that at the local and regional level, these policies are adhered to. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the one program that I think the Member may be referring to is the Graduate Intern Program, which is a program that is administered by the Department of Human Resources. Our problem is not that we aren’t administering the program correctly; the problem is that there are limited funds. This year, by way of example, we had 65 applications for 33 positions. So given that there is a huge number of students who want support from the program and a limited number of seats and/or funding, we are not able to hire every student into an internship program every year.
When it comes to selecting the students, Human Resources facilitates that program and the departments are ultimately the individuals who are doing the final hires. Thank you.
Thank you. I would like to ask the Minister, is there not an opportunity for something to be lost in translation between what the department decides they want to do, the hiring department decides they want to do, and what the policy of this government is. Is there not an opportunity that there is a disconnect there? It would appear to be that way, from what I see.
Another question is: Are there any professions for which this government will guarantee a placement for when the student returns with a post-secondary degree or certificate? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I suppose a disconnect could exist, but I think one of the big challenges that we face is the fact that we had 65 applications and 33 seats. That means at least 50 percent of the people are going to be disappointed or upset.
As of today, there is still a Graduate Placement Program for nurses and social workers. Were graduate nurses, graduate social workers, as well as teachers are guaranteed an offer of employment. The problem with these guarantees, in some peoples’ perception, is that they don’t offer you a job in the location you are from. They don’t offer you a job in the place you happen to live because we can’t guarantee that a job exists there at that particular time, but it is an offer of employment somewhere in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the Minister spoke of 33 positions, 65 applicants. Where are the 33 positions? Are they distributed throughout the Northwest Territories at regional centres and other locations, or are they all in Yellowknife? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, it varies from year to year, based on which departments submit applications for internship positions. Not all of them are in Yellowknife, but they vary from year to year so it could be different next year from this year, depending on where the departments decide or are interested in actually setting them up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, this introduces a new element in this. So this is optional for departments to subscribe, I guess, to this program. If they have positions open within their department, it is up to them if they want to hire students or if they want to basically circumvent this student hiring program altogether. So the onus is on the departments to apply for these positions, and if that is the case, if they want someone with more experience, then they wouldn’t have to bother with this. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Internship Program that we are talking about is actually an opportunity for a department to have a secondary or supernumerary-type position. It is not one of our indeterminate or full-time positions, but it is an opportunity for a student who has no experience but a great education to come into the public service, to develop some skills, consolidate their learning with a one-year placement in the Internship Program. From there they have the criteria to then apply on jobs as they become vacant. So this is an opportunity for people to learn, develop, get some experience, help build a resume and apply for work accordingly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Item 10, replies to opening address. Item 11, petitions. Item 12, report of standing and special committees. Mr. Nadli.
