Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a little story I want to tell today and it ends with a question. What are we supposed to tell them?
For many, many years, Hay River has had an electrical inspector who works under the Department of Public Works and Services. Most of you will know that that was Stanley Norn. Stanley Norn recently retired, and congratulations to him on his retirement.
Now, the job was out for competition and candidates applied. This is a position that we have to fight to keep in Hay River. If a candidate who applies for the job lives in a different community, they can’t then just say, can you move that position to my community so I can stay home and do the job?
Mr. Speaker, we not only have to fight for decentralization to get new positions into our communities but it looks like we have to fight to keep the ones we’ve already got and have had for many, many years. It’s not just a political decision. It comes down to issues like where are the majority of the electrical permit applications made? Where are the majority of electrical contractors? Where is the majority of the work that this electrical inspector would be doing? Where is it located? If it’s located in Hay River, the job has to be kept in Hay River.
So, Mr. Bouchard and I have both received communication from several electrical contractors in Hay River who are extremely concerned that they will not have ready access to an electrical inspector to process their applications when they need to pull a permit to do work in Hay River.
So, in response to that, we need to get some answers on what’s happening here. If we can apply for government jobs in a different location and then say can you just move the job to where I live, then I think everybody in Hay River should apply for a job with the government in Yellowknife, and when they are the successful candidate, they can just ask the staff, can we just stay in Hay River and do that job that’s actually a job in Yellowknife?
I think that we owe these folks in Hay River some answers. I don’t know if decisions have been made, but I had to bring it up here publicly today. We have not named any name of the candidates or potential candidates or where they live, but it’s a pressing issue for us as MLAs for Hay River.
Later today I will have a question for the Minister of Public Works and Services: What do we tell our concerned citizens about the position of the electrical inspector for Hay River? Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
