Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the finance minister confirm if the government intends to repeal and replace the Affirmative Action Policy before the start of the 20th Assembly, including any actions that may occur during the election period? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a suite of things that have happened in the Department of Finance for the human resources over the last four years, and certainly the Affirmative Action Policy and the work we've done to review it is part of that. Seeing it to its end would certainly be nice towards the end of this Assembly but, Mr. Speaker, the Member's already noted, we only just were able to table the report in terms of what we heard and what we've been recommended to do and, as such, it really would not be appropriate at this point to be making a change at the dying days of this Assembly and before the 20th, so. And certainly not during an election period, Mr. Speaker. So I expect that there will be no changes to the Affirmative Action Policy before the 20th Assembly. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm whether the government's work that has gone into repealing and replacing the Affirmative Action Policy will be lost after the end of this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
No, it will certainly not be lost, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is very committed to this work. And as I said, this is really the work that's gone on is part of what has already been going on and what's already in place under the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework, the Human Resources Strategic Plan, the Diversity and Inclusion Framework. So while this policy is certainly connected to those things and that work is ongoing, as such it is connected. And the work is ongoing, and it will certainly not be lost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us if the future Affirmative Action Policy will also include an appeal board, an appeal board process for applicants to consider if they wish. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, right now what we do have is there are staffing appeal regulations that come in under the Public Service Act. There are staffing appeals that are reviewed by staffing officers who are independent from the public service, independent from the Department of Finance. So there is a process in place. That said, I know there's often concerns raised, and it was raised during the review process, about whether or not this is sufficient or adequate to make sure that people are, in fact, benefitting from the processes we have in place. So that was part of the review and that was part of the recommendations, and that will certainly be taken into consideration, again, as work goes is ongoing at all times in the department to improve its processes. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us what she thinks the next government or next Minister should do on this file when it comes to any potential changes to the Affirmative Action Policy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Oh, Mr. Speaker, I can't I can't tell you what I think. Or what I think the next Minister can do.
Mr. Speaker, there's been a fulsome review that was conducted. I would commend people to if they are interested in this area, to look at what we heard the What We Heard report, to look at the recommendations therein. It is the recommendations that are saying to bring in an Indigenous employment policy that would really refocus on an area that we know that the Department of Finance would like to see improvements, that we know it's an area that the public service remains underrepresented. And it does include some recommendations as to how we might change that or how we might structure that.
It also speaks to some of the other issues that Member this Member has raised, other Members have raised around, you know, other demographics here in the Northwest Territories. So there's a lot of information in there, a lot of suggestions and recommendations in there. I can only commend them to the next government, Mr. Speaker, and perhaps put something in the transition binder about how they might want to go about thinking of this. But, really, beyond that, Mr. Speaker, it's not my place to say. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
