Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The motion is on systemic racism:
WHEREAS half the population of the Northwest Territories is Indigenous;
AND WHEREAS the population of the Northwest Territories is becoming more racially diverse;
AND WHEREAS Indigenous peoples have faced colonialism and cultural genocide;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has accepted the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the principles of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the calls to justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls;
AND WHEREAS there is growing public awareness of the impacts of racism in society brought to light by the grassroots efforts of Black Lives Matter and other anti-racism organizations;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to review its policies and practices for racial and cultural bias, especially as they relate to education, health and social services, justice, housing, and government hiring;
AND FURTHER, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. To the motion. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion is very much in line with my entire life philosophy of improving government for the people we serve. I have been fighting my entire adult life for the betterment of Black, brown, and Indigenous people. As a chief in leadership and now as an MLA, I firmly believe that anything is possible if we work together to make change. Change must come from the top. Change must be felt from the bottom. Only then, we have made a difference.
Racism takes many different forms, especially in government. Gaps in cultural barriers have always been a problem. Affirmative action and the procurement policy are prime examples of bureaucratic systemic racism. This has to change. Only then, we will make a difference. Mr. Speaker, I would like a recorded vote on this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. I will allow the seconder to speak to the motion and open it up to others, if they wish to. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I support the motion. For far too long, we've had lots of racist overtones happening to our people. It has currently been happening in my community for well over a year at a specific institution that I probably have mentioned many times in the House and within meetings, and it is still continuing to this day. I made a Member's statement on it, and I don't want to have to go through it all. Mr. Speaker, I do support the motion. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to acknowledge and thank the mover and seconder of the motion for bringing the matter forward in the House. I didn't use my Member's statement to speak to the issue today, but I'm not sure I really have a lot to add that is profound or different from what my colleagues have already said. I acknowledge that racism continues to exist here in the Northwest Territories and that we do need to work to stop it and put in place measures that will help people reach their full potential. I acknowledge that my colleagues on the Cabinet side have started some of that work, and I look forward to working with them on this issue for the remainder of this term. I do support the motion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. To the motion. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I want to acknowledge the mover and seconder of this motion. These motions, you can see a lot of motions that come through. Some of them, they take guts to come forward and do it, and courage. I think this is one of those motions. I commend my colleagues for bringing forth this motion. Going back, like I said, a lot of us covered this in our Member's statements. Yes, we have all these nice words, we have all these nice well-worded documents, but at the heart of it all is actions. I am hoping that all of us, all my colleagues, work really hard and back up our words with actions. Aside from all that, Mr. Speaker, I support this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. To the motion. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you. I support this motion, as well. I know that our Cabinet colleagues have been doing a lot of work in this area, and I know that there are many people within our public service who are doing this work as we sit here, not just only for Indigenous people, but Black, Indigenous, people of colour. We all have to make the Northwest Territories safe for everybody and our policies reflect that so that we all make sure that we all have access to education, the justice system, our child welfare. All these programs are all intertwined in what I spoke to, about the statement that we made today in this House on systemic racism. We just need to make sure that we have this motion here to move things forward, to continue that momentum, so we can move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. To the motion. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have anything prepared, and I am the last person who is going to stand up here and tell everyone else in this room what racism means to them. I do commit to being an ally and to educating myself and to always trying to check my own privilege when I can. I look to all my colleagues to help me do so and commit to continuing to do so. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. To the motion. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the mover and the seconder for the motion, as well. I did a Member's statement on it today. I said what I had to say. At the same time, I think that it's incumbent upon all of us to stand up against racism. It's incumbent upon us to support each other, support people, and just treat people with respect and help people. If we go through life like that, I am hoping that we can make a real difference here, at least in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. To the motion. Government House Leader.
Mr. Speaker, this Cabinet and the Government of the Northwest Territories recognize and are committed to addressing systemic racism. As the Premier stated earlier today, we have a moral and ethical obligation to root out racism in our institutions. While there is much work already being done on this, we acknowledge that we have much more to do, both within government and society more broadly, and we are committed to doing that work. In our system of government, it is convention that Cabinet abstains from voting on recommendations to government, so we will be abstaining. However, Cabinet fully supports the principles behind this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Government House Leader. I will allow the mover to make closing remarks if she wishes. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, I think this motion is vital to improving how we deal with people of colour, Black people, and Indigenous people. Coming from the heart, I think that it's a very important motion, that we all have to recognize that things are not the way they should be all the time. Having a personal experience that happened to me on February 1st, I have never had that happen to me, and I never felt that way in all of the years that I have lived in the Northwest Territories. I have been very fortunate. A lot of the people that I represent, especially the Indigenous people of Salt River and all of the Indigenous organizations in the Northwest Territories, that's where you see the difference. With that, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. The motion is in order. To the motion. The Member has requested a recorded vote.
Question.
