Bob McLeod

Our government is not recognized as one of the 100 best employees in Canada because we aren’t looking after employees. If the Member has a list of employees affected that aren’t being offered jobs and are being shown the door, give it to us and we’ll fix the problem. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member is correct; 24 people were affected by shared services, 20 of them have jobs. There are four that have still not been placed, one in the Deh Cho and three in Yellowknife. I fully expect that they will all find suitable, reasonable employment consistent with what they are doing now.

There are three negotiating parties at the table, and we have to have some consistency across the Northwest Territories, but we do have a regional administrative system already in the Northwest Territories, so I expect that that’s something that could be negotiated, I would think.

I don’t want to be talking out of school here because we’re still going through different processes. The Dehcho are going through their process; we’re going through our process. But I think we just have to be careful here. We are talking about such an authority, but I think we have to make sure that the understandings and definitions of what that authority will be are consistent. I can say that we are discussing that.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize a Page from Yellowknife South, Carson Asmundson. He’s been here a few times before, and I also want to recognize all the Pages that are here today. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, human resources, all of our employees are our most valuable asset and we are very proud of all of our employees. I have already answered his question and the answer is no. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Direct appointments have been a management tool for this government ever since this government has been in place. On every occasion, a direct appointment is a benefit to the government and it is provided for through appropriate legislation and we will continue to use that practice.

The Member complains that we don’t have positions filled. We’re trying to fill positions and now he doesn’t want us to fill positions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, February 21, 2014, I will move that Bill 10, Northwest Territories Lands Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad to hear the question from a Member that understands the challenge that we’re facing. We have set ourselves a goal of increasing our population by 2,000 within five years, and in order to do that we have to have a better process than we have now. Since we went south, we went public, we’ve had a lot of e-mails, tons of e-mails from people that want to come and work here, and we are faced with a process that’s very cumbersome and we need to find a way to improve it. One of the best ways to do it is to increase our emphasis on direct appointments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member indicated, these 15 recommendations came about, they are extraneous to the requirements of Bill C-24. These recommendations were not discussed or voted on in Committee of the Whole and there is no requirement for a government response; however, since we are a government that focuses on results, a government that gets things done, we are in the process of reviewing and responding to all 15 recommendations and the Minister responsible for the Liquor Act or the Liquor Board is coordinating and monitoring the response and the work that is being done by seven...