All right, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, employment issues are varied throughout the Northwest Territories. There's not a onesizefitall solution. You know, there's those positions where we want to hire local employment, but sometimes we need skilled and foreign workers to come to our communities, whether it's Inuvik opening up or making sure the restaurant's opened. It's in Nahanni; we need a SAO. We need specialized skills sometimes in special places.
I'd like to ask the Minister what is she doing to support employers to bring in specialized skills, often referred to as skilled workers, into our northern communities. How is she supporting that and developing that opportunity?
Thank you, Member. Minister of ITI or ECE. Okay. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are like many jurisdictions across the country where we are relying on Canadian newcomers to help fill some of our employment gaps in our territory. Over the course of the so far this year, I asked for engagement to take place to see what people, including employers, wanted to see as far as immigration and an extended immigration strategy. So right now we are compiling that information to see how we can work with employers to better serve them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be able to elaborate on what type of hands on support does the department offer so employers can fill out these applications and potentially fill skilled worker openings? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECE has approximately three staff members who are accessible by phone and by email to members of the public and also to employers to be able to provide some direction and let them know different programs, different entry streams that are available, and then ultimately, though, the bulk of that work is done with the Canadian government. Thank you.
So is the thank you, Mr. Speaker. So is the Minister saying that the three staff in that particular section just tell employers, who are trying to create economic opportunities and growth in the North, to just go to the website? Is that their main role? Or do they actually spend some efforts with them helping them fill out the paperwork so they can process the paperwork properly? Because we all know how busy these employers are. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hope that any public servant that answers the phone is willing to field questions from the person on the other end of that phone. I know that, you know, paperwork can be intimidating and there can be a lot of it, and so I would hope that employers would be able to communicate what their needs are and staff of the public service would be able to let them know what they can do to support them, but this is definitely a tricky realm where it includes a lot of work from the federal government as well to make this happen. I know that there are employers in town who hire consultants to help them through the bulk of the process because it is a lengthy process as well. It's not a quick process. It's not one piece of paper. And so there are employers in town who have definitely invested a lot of time in figuring this out, and I'd be happy to act as a connector between those employers who are wanting to learn the process and learn the ins and outs and also with employers who have essentially, to the best of their ability, mastered this process. Thank you
Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Minister recognizes this is a daunting process, if the Minister recognizes that it's challenging in the sense of that it affects a lot of people, Mr. Speaker, why isn't the Minister advocating that there is some actual handson people to help steward employers through this process? Because we know it is complicated and sometimes quite lengthy. So would she do this, or what will she advocate for?
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I can say wholeheartedly I've been talking about immigration in this House for over four years and will continue to do so at the department level. I think that making sure that we have easy to use processes is really important, not only for enriching our communities but also for filling our labour shortages. So I'm committed to working on this not only with the department but also with employers of who I represent most. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
