Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We tried to build a prosperous Territory, but, Mr. Speaker, as always, some people are left behind and are better off than others. I’m sorry to say that it’s a pattern that is continued to be followed and it even applies to the employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is not respective of the people that we serve in which 50 percent of our population are Aboriginal but only 31 percent of the government employees are Aboriginal. In Yellowknife only 16 percent of the employees are Aboriginal and I wonder to what extent that there are twice as many women as men in government occupations were Aboriginal workforce.
It gets worse, Mr. Speaker. There are only 31 Aboriginal senior managers in this government, which makes up 16 percent of senior managers. If that makes you think that Aboriginal employees are at the bottom of the pay scale, Mr. Speaker, you are right. The average salary of a P1 employee is under $69,000 a year compared to that of a P2 employee which are non-Aboriginal Northerners, the average salary is more than $84,000 a year. Not only is there a huge pay difference, but in most cases Aboriginal employees have their money spread further because 67 percent of them live in small urban communities or regional centres where the cost of living is generally higher than Yellowknife. I ask, Mr. Speaker, how fair is this?
This government brags about true equal opportunities for employers, but is it really? What are we doing as a government to improve this? More importantly, what are we doing to add to the skills and opportunities of Aboriginal employees? How many years of residential schools and government-run schools here in the Northwest Territories have had an opportunity to build on the employment opportunities of the Aboriginal workforce that really reflects the people it serves but not simply having a backseat to everyone else in their homelands? Mr. Speaker, again, I think it is very important to realize that we have high unemployment rates among Aboriginal people here in the Northwest Territories. Even...
Mr. Krutko, your time for Member’s statement has expired.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Again, Mr. Speaker, we have to be fair to all residents of the Northwest Territories, especially the ones that this is their homeland. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, by getting to the point of unemployment rates in Aboriginal communities that it is the highest in the Northwest Territories of any other ethnic group, again, I would like to get this issue out there on the table and get some serious debate on exactly what are we doing to improve the number of Aboriginal people in the government workforce.
Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
MEMBER’S STATEMENT
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Premier and I met with the Sahtu people the other day in Deline, we heard leaders talk about housing. It is still in the minds of our elders, Mr. Speaker, when the government came to our communities and asked our people to move off the land and into government houses, and that they would only have to pay $2 a month for their house. It is very clear to our elders when the government told this to them. Why would people ask to move into government houses? More importantly, what was told to them and promised to my people by the government about housing?
Mr. Speaker, there are many stories about the high cost of living in a house. As a homeowner, we pay for all the costs to maintain a house. Nothing is free. As a renter in public housing, we pay the maximum rent or pay as little as $32 a month, depending if you have a job or not.
Mr. Speaker, my people in the Sahtu want jobs. Mr. Speaker, for example, a young man who graduated from Chief Albert Wright School is working with a company to build houses and lives in a one-bedroom unit and is paying $1,800 a month. Now, we have not yet added the food, household items or just entertainment. This job may last up to six months.
As you know, food prices are sky high in the North. It costs us a lot to travel outside our communities. We need to give our people, especially young people, a good chance in life. Hopefully with the recent announcement by the Minister of the Housing Corporation, we will be able to fill all of these 82 empty units in the North at a reasonable price.
Mr. Speaker, the federal government is cutting back on housing money each year and the federal government says by the year 2038 there will be no more funding for housing in the Northwest Territories. What kind of government do we have in Ottawa? Don’t they know a promise is a promise, Mr. Speaker? Now we are asked to hold the bag and help our people.
I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
