Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement on the Regional Recruitment Program and the good efforts of the Department of Human Resources to look at opportunities for filling vacant positions in regional centres, I do have a few questions.
In the same statement or press release that Minister Abernethy put out, it says that the Department of Human Resources will provide support to managers through a new decentralized, regional recruitment officer position. Could we have that in Hay River, please?
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that we’re looking at a location for that and I think right now I believe we’re looking at Fort Smith and I think we’ve already got somebody who has been identified as a reasonable and suitable candidate. But I will confirm, for the Member, that information. Thank you.
Thank you. I’d like to ask the Minister, how does the vacancy in GNWT positions rates compare in Yellowknife versus regional centres. If he knows, I’m not sure if that’s something he would know off the top of his head, but just curious. Thank you.
Thank you. I don’t have the exact vacancy rates for anywhere in the Northwest Territories directly in front of me, but what I can say is that we know at any given time there’s about 380 to 400 vacant positions in the GNWT that we’re trying to staff and fill. Approximately half of those are in Yellowknife and half of those are in communities and regional settings. So about 50/50. Thank you.
Thank you. In an effort to identify people who might be willing to fill positions vacant or otherwise in regional centres, in my Member’s statement I mentioned an idea of perhaps surveying people who might be interested in relocating, because my sense is that there is a bit of a mindset that that’s not the direction you want to go. But I want to tell you that I can’t even tell you the number of people who come to Hay River for business, perhaps with the government, perhaps with private sector and look at our amenities, look at our housing prices, look at the community, the lake, the river, the sports, all the other things that are there and say, you know, I could live here. But how would they communicate that to their employer if it’s the GNWT and how could we look at someone who has a job that can travel, that can relocate? Is a survey a possibility? Thank you.
Thank you. Certainly an intriguing idea and if it’s something committee wants us to look at I’m certainly willing to.
Having said that, the Regional Recruitment Program that we’re talking about here is actually a program designed to help people from the communities and the regions obtain employment with the GNWT and it will be a valuable tool as we devolve positions throughout the Northwest Territories because it will help those individuals who feel or may not qualify for jobs. They’ve developed the on-the-job training and skills they need to get jobs, but with respect to Mrs. Groenewegen’s question, if it’s something committee wants us to look at, I’m absolutely happy to take a look at that and discuss further with committee. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize that I have kind of mixed a couple of things here and I know that that’s not the letter of what this Regional Recruitment Program is about. That is to fill existing positions in regional centres and I’m kind of mixing that in with creating positions at regional centres. But I just want to say that I think the people should be advised of this and the program as it’s laid out for trainees and job shadowing, the $15,000 allotment, I think the whole thing is a really, really good idea and a great program.
I would like to know how people are going to be advised on a broad scale of what those positions are. We see positions advertised in newspapers and ads and so on, but can we get an inventory of vacant positions community by community? Thank you.
Thank you. The list is evolving and we have people coming into positions, people leaving jobs. It changes on a fairly regular basis. We do know that we run about 400 in the Northwest Territories at any given time that we’re trying to staff. How we’re planning to let people know, is we’re looking a little outside the box, we’re not just going to rely on our advertising and communication. We do know in the communities that there are a lot of people who have been going through career development officers and other mechanisms to find opportunities for themselves. So to make this work, we feel it’s critical to have a departmental collaboration with Education, Culture and Employment and the career development officers, who are individuals that a lot of these people looking for work go to. So we’re developing that relationship, we’re making sure that the career development officers are on board, they’re part of the team to communicate the message to residents of the communities who would be eligible for these training opportunities.
I will commit to sharing, with committee and the Member, an analysis, as we go, of the types of positions that we’re getting uptake on and what communities throughout the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
