Bob McLeod

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. Chair. We are not planning to do another NWT Days in this fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. I don’t know how many times the Member wants me to assure him. I’ve already told him in a previous line of questioning that we would provide that information, subject to confidentiality requirements. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Those are two separate things. This is the deal with the Aboriginal governments themselves. The Intergovernmental Council is primarily a land administration body with which the federal government is providing up to $3 million for funding it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in the previous questionings, this was information that was made public, and as soon as we have an updated list from the Government of Canada, we’ll follow the same procedure. Thank you.

Thank you. I have to recognize that there will be at least five other Aboriginal government partners. So that will be something that we would work out and I’m sure that we would want to be as transparent as possible. Thank you.