Madam Speaker, as the Minister responsible for human resources, is she confident that the Affirmative Action Policy is solid and that her direction as Minister is being followed?
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister of Finance.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am very confident in the skills and abilities and dedication of the staff in the human resources department. These individuals work hard. They are working hard to be developing a representative workforce. That doesn't mean that that work happens over a day, and it doesn't mean that we have a representative workforce right now. Not to take away for a moment from the hard work that happens within that department. I do have every confidence that they are working toward that goal. That goal, however, as was already noted, has been noted more than once in this House, is more than simply that of one department; it is a goal for the entirety of the government. It's a goal that we are all going to be working toward. It's one that involves everything from early childhood indicators, to education, to better health outcomes, so that people are ready to work and able to work, so that they can benefit from the variety of programs that we have in the GNWT's HR. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Does the Minister feel confident that the Affirmative Action Policy is objective and serving the people of the NWT in an honest and sincere manner?
The Affirmative Action Policy is one that has different classifications depending on the types of jobs to which someone is applying. A P1 individual, for example, is someone who is Indigenous Aboriginal to the territory or someone who is Aboriginal and spent more than half their life in the Northwest Territories. There are also the P2 classifications. Depending, for a management position, there are 1A and 1B classifications. They are quite rigorous. They are clearly stated and, indeed, if someone meets one of those classifications and passes the requirements for a position, they are hired even over a candidate who may not be so classified but who may actually have scored technically higher in their application process. I have inquired and ensured that that continues to be applied, and I am happy to receive any information from any member of the public who may be concerned, and we have followed up with every one of the requests that we've received in that regard.
Is the Minister responsible for human resources confident that the Affirmative Action Policy is being accountable and transparent to the people of the NWT and the bureaucratic processes in place dictating it?
I understand that the Member has some concerns, perhaps arising from specific incidents. I am not sure. If that is the case, I want Members in this House to bring specific concerns to me. I have had specific concerns brought forward. We've actioned them. We take them back to the department. We run investigations. You make enquiries. Individuals who don't receive positions have appeal rights in some cases. I would encourage those who have access to such appeal rights to exercise them. Appeals are done by independent individuals, not Members of the GNWT. Indeed, very often workplace investigations, in many cases, can be done by individuals outside of the GNWT. There are a lot of different layers where independents come into play, external to the GNWT. In addition to that, Madam Speaker, again, there are obligations on all staffing to ensure that they are applying policies that are appropriate and following those policies that we have rigorously.
Thank you, Minister. Member for Thebacha, final supplementary.
Madam Speaker, could the Minister honestly say, before all the Members of this House, that the Affirmative Action Policy is actually working for the people of the NWT? Thank you, Madam Speaker.
The Department of Human Resources is constantly working to ensure that it is doing the best it can to be a representative workforce. To that end, as I've said before in this House in the last month, there are a variety of programs. They are continuously making efforts to be responsive as new ideas arise to be innovative. For instance, developing the building capacity in Indigenous governments program that is being worked on right now is one where it's helping to build capacity in communities with secondments between the GNWT and Indigenous governments.
There's a constant effort to find new and better ways to improve the workforce, not only in the GNWT, but in some of our partners across the territory. One of those tools is the Affirmative Action Policy. I have already offered to this House to give a technical presentation to standing committee to go through that policy, to consider reviews that have been done, and to engage in a dialogue with all Members of the House if there are ways that we can continue to improve that policy for the betterment of the Northwest Territories and the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
