Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about the importance of decentralization of government jobs and services. Can the Premier confirm if it's a priority of the executive and of Cabinet to promote and support the decentralization of public jobs public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Madam Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Within the priorities that were developed by the Legislative Assembly, there wasn't a decentralization; there was a priority around regional decisionmaking however and we're working towards that. However, in saying that, Mr. Speaker, decentralization has been a priority of the previous governments, and it's a priority of our government. It always should be a priority. Many of the Members from the Cabinet are outside of Yellowknife. They're constantly reminding us all the time that and I recognize that myself, that we need jobs in every single community, and we're doing the best we can to make sure that that happens. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide some concrete examples on what efforts the executive has done throughout the 19th Assembly to support the decentralization of public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a couple of things that are examples that have actually carried on into this Assembly that have been from previous Assemblies, though, such as the priority hires. It's still a priority. Every position that comes across the Cabinet table is always scrutinized. Are they a priority hire? If not, why not. So that's one example. The other is, again, from previous governments that we continue, secondment so that both ways so that if, for example, Indigenous governments need a worker in their community, we will second from the GNWT and vice versa. That helps in actually building the skills that I think people need. One of the best ones that I do have to give credit for Minister Wawzonek from finance is the remote work policy that was just brought in. After COVID, I mean, we realized that we could use the internet more. So the remote work policy, my recollection is correct, is that you can if you have a job that's offered in the headquarters in Yellowknife, you can talk to your supervisor and if you can do it remotely, you can do that in a community. It only goes one. That cannot happen for jobs in communities that that person can come to Yellowknife. So that's a great example of work that were done in this government to make sure that we have jobs in the communities and decentralize positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us if she believes her government has been successful with decentralizing jobs and services into the communities and regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mean, I'd like to say yes but the reality is is that it's work that's always going to have to happen. Like I said, it's a concern for all of us, and it should be a concern. We need to make sure that all communities actually have the economic opportunities, including jobs, which is economic opportunities, to be able to support their residents. Like I said before, Mr. Speaker, I think that the biggest achievement to this government has been the remote work policy. I think it's a little bit too early to actually give stats on that, though, because it's only been a few months. But I am looking forward to actually seeing the stats on that and actually seeing if it works. And it'll take a little bit of time. Things take time in government to change the culture. But I'm a big advocate of it. I think I do thank the Minister for actually bringing that forward and I am thinking that hopefully within a year or two, you'll see huge results because of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, could the Premier tell us if she considers the centralization of government services and jobs as a problem, and does she consider it as a threat to small communities or regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I again, I think that it's always a concern when the majority of problems are in one community and we have many communities that we have to take care of. I know that we do try to make sure that we have regional positions for all departments within the communities. But I do think that there's more work to be done. And I don't think that it's only this government. I think that it's going to have to be work done for many governments to come. We need to look at the jobs. We need to look at the departments. We need to look at positions. So it's ongoing work. Our commitment as Cabinet has been to try to get as many jobs in the communities as possible, and I'm hoping that the next Assembly will continue that work and try to get as many jobs into the communities as appropriate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Tu NedheWiilideh.
