Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’m asking students in the Deh Cho riding to apply for summer jobs with the territorial government. It is a great opportunity for all students who continue their studies after graduating from high school. The pay is generally very good, but it does vary depending on the job.
I would also like to remind the students that every department, board and agency does their own hiring, so you need to make the rounds when you’re job hunting. It is a good idea to do that even if you have already applied on-line.
The GNWT summer jobs provide valuable hands-on experience for our students and help them save money for their school terms. The students are also a valuable resource for the government. As the Minister of Human Resources said yesterday, these students are our public servants of the future.
As of last week, 240 students have been hired. About half are Aboriginal Northerners and the other half are non-Aboriginal Northerners. Unfortunately, this government has not hired as many students this year. In 2011 our government hired 286 students and 58 percent of them were Aboriginal Northerners.
I want to highlight this next statistic, so I hope the Minister and all my colleagues are ready for it. In my riding, this government has only hired one summer student so far this year. I’m pretty sure we can do better.
We can also improve the information we collect from the students. Human Resources does not track them by gender, age, or where they are going to school. Our programs to support students are good, but this information could help us do even better.
I want to conclude my final statements of this session with a few words to our students. By all means, continue your studies after high school, take advantage of all the support our government offers, especially Student Financial Assistance, and go hard to get a summer job with the government. They’re looking to hire more students, especially in the Deh Cho riding.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
