Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in a previous session I asked the Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs about the youth position in the Nahendeh and when it was going to be filled. I was told it would be filled in January. I was assuming it was this January. Well, Mr. Speaker, the time has come and today nothing has happened in my riding. It's been over 15 months, so, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise the status of the youth positions across north? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The status of youth positions within the Northwest Territories: currently we only have three vacant positions. All the other positions are filled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to thank the Minister for her answer. I already knew there was three, one in Yellowknife, one in North Slave and one in Inuvik region, but there's three other positions that have not been filled and for the most part it's been 15 months. So it's been over a year for some of these, two of them I know of for sure. Can the Minister provide a rationale on why this department has not filled these positions to this date?
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I thought it was Housing for a second. Yes, so we can talk about it. At the beginning, the three positions that the MLA is referring to, we are still working on it, and the reason is because within the Sutcliffe Report there were some recommendations on job descriptions. We also felt it was important, so we consulted with stakeholders in the areas, the applicable stakeholders and the staff to develop more comprehensive job descriptions. Because we are looking at being able to utilize our skills in a more appropriate way, so we're hoping that we can actually have positions that have a little bit of overlap and we can use specialization, at the same time providing them with the skills so that they can transfer into positions more easily.
At this point the job descriptions are completed. They are with the Department of Human Resources, and they need to determine the pay level that these positions will be at. So as soon as we receive them back from the Department of Human Resources, we will be putting them out for competition.
I'd like to thank the Minister for her answer. It's unfortunate it's taken 15 months to do a job description that hasn't even been classified yet on what the pay is going to be.
Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding the department is changing these job descriptions, of both the youth and the sport and recreation position, and combining it to one sort of, kind of, a job description collectively. So what is the rationale behind this change?
As stated earlier, there are a couple of reasons that we're looking at the change. We are looking to be able to utilize the skills and the strengths within our employees in a better fashion so that we can share services. We're also looking to promote a greater range of candidates so that they can apply for positions. We were looking at things such as education, barriers that actually impact people within the Northwest Territories. We're looking at trying to get youth involved in these programs, to promote people within the Northwest Territories to have access to these competitions, to these jobs, and so we were very cognizant when we were developing the job descriptions in looking for ways that we can actually promote more northern youth to be able to access these and that we can use the transfer of skills throughout the programs.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister for her answer. I worked in the field for 23 years. I understand the importance of the crossover. We did a lot of crossover, so I understand that and I understand the importance of it. I still struggle with why you're changing job descriptions from a youth officer and a sport and recreation one and making it combined to one.
I guess my next question is: Why is the government looking at it? Is this going to be a potential cut? Because now we're going to have two people in the region doing the same, similar, job, same job description, is this something that they're looking at for future cuts? I understand the importance of crossovers, but having two jobs with different job descriptions allows that to happen still. So is this a potential future cut, or is this a better decision for them to do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was no intention during the development of this process that we would be looking at cutting these positions. We value them, as well. A future cut, I can say that within my term as the Minister of MACA I will not terminate these positions. However, I cannot state further than my position. So, there was no intention. I can't give a guarantee forever, but, as long as I am the Minister, that is not my intention. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
