Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Human Resources. It has to do with the promise that was made last year that Mr. Miltenberger stated May 18th. I want to ask the Minister when the Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program will be available to all GNWT employees as was promised last year.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Human Resources, Mr. Bob McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately he never communicated that information to me. No, I’m just… We have been working diligently on developing a Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Our 20/20: Brilliant North Public Service Strategic Plan makes cross-cultural awareness and diversity awareness a priority for this government. We developed a framework agreement that promotes exactly that and we’ll be rolling it out in the new fiscal year, 2011-2012. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister when the department rolls out this cross-cultural training program, when, I guess, is the time frame in terms of dates as to when he thinks that it will be delivered in the Sahtu region.
We’ve awarded a couple of contracts so that we can develop a Cross-Cultural Awareness Training Program that can be delivered. We are working with communities and we are also involving Aboriginal governments, those that are willing to participate. We’ve written to all of them and invited them to participate. We also will be tendering and awarding another contract to develop a training curriculum framework for our e-training component of this cultural awareness program. My expectation is it will be early, probably the summer of 2011. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister inform me and inform the House if the ground-roots people from the Sahtu region, in terms of their unique cultural way of living, are involved in part of the cross-cultural awareness training the same as the Gwich’in or the Akaitcho and the other diversity cultures in the North here. Is the Sahtu involved?
As I said, we have written to all of the Aboriginal governments inviting them to participate in the development of the cross-cultural awareness training. I would have to check to see if the Sahtu government has responded in the affirmative. But we are also developing a guide that would outline the training on the land or experienced-based training that’s available out there, and my expectation is that our Cross-Cultural Awareness Program that will be developed will involve people in the regions and elders and so on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From experience, sometimes we find that some people are very well-expertised in putting together training programs, but they still don’t get it in terms of them facilitating or delivering a cross-cultural or any type of training program. How will the people in the Sahtu be in the forefront of actually teaching the program or putting the program together in terms of this cultural training that would be greatly received, hopefully, by the GNWT employees?
The contract has been awarded and we’ll address those issues. Our expectation is that all new employees that are new to the North, new to the government, will undergo the cross-cultural awareness and diversity-awareness training. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
