Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a bit of a back and forth there between the Minister of Finance and the Member from Twin Lakes about if or when the Affirmative Action Policy is being changed, and I think I kind of lost the plot there. Can the Minister just confirm whether the Affirmative Action Policy is going to be changed in the very short remaining life of this government? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is not a decision that I make by myself on this one. The Affirmative Action Policy, although a policy, is one that belongs to all the Cabinet. And as with almost everything else it seems in people's lives over the last few weeks, there's been a number of disruptions over this wildfire season and summer. So there is still a little bit of time left in the Assembly, Mr. Speaker. It is a Cabinet's policy. A lot of work has gone into it. And at this point, I can't speak for it beyond that other than to say a lot of work has gone into it, and we will certainly want to make what we can of the time that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think that was a maybe, Mr. Speaker. And I get that when things are going through the Cabinet process, there's Cabinet confidentiality and you can't, as a Minister, you know, expose the outcome of that. I guess I'm trying to understand what is going to Cabinet potentially or could possibly. My understanding is we version one was an Indigenous employment policy and then a diversity and inclusion policy which added a number of new categories, including P2 and disability and sexuality and racialized persons. That was version 1. We went out, engaged on that. Version 2 essentially dropped the entire equity, including the old P2s, and just had an Indigenous Employment Policy. So those are the two options. I'm just wondering is there some sort of third possible amendment that exists or is in the work to the Affirmative Action Policy? Is there more work being done that may or may not result in the change? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so I certainly can speak to what is in the What We Heard report that came forward as a result of the engagement that was undertaken regarding the Affirmative Action Policy. And in that, Mr. Speaker, the recommendation there really is, again, that the Affirmative Action Policy is out of date, that it is inadequate, that this is unnecessarily complex. And coming from that, what was also contained in that report is that there be an Indigenous Employment Policy to offer priority hiring to Indigenous persons. That is an area where we all know that we have failed and continue to fail for 30 some years under this policy. It simply has not achieved its purpose or targets.
And then secondarily, Mr. Speaker, with respect to a second employment policy, a broader employment policy, that's not with the data it seems to suggest is required under Statistics Canada, certainly not an area that seems to be required in terms of looking at our own demographics as a public service. And there are other tools already in place, such as the diversity and inclusion framework that might speak to it.
So those are the recommendations that were put back to us via the work that was done over the last couple of years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
