David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, I do have the interests of my constituents and the residents here in the Northwest Territories at heart when I do question the Minister.

I want to again get back to the accountability side of things. I think the department should look into a system like they have in Alberta, where it can tell the applicant whether the competition is in the screening, interview, offer or appeal stage. That, to me, is a fairly straightforward accountability measure that the department should be employing.

I’d like to ask the Minister: will he take a look at the system they have in Alberta and try to...

Mr. Speaker, I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Human Resources. It gets back to my Member’s statement from earlier today where I talked of it taking months to fill vacant positions within the G.N.W.T. public service. Also, some grievances that I’m aware of are two and a half years in duration.

I’d like to ask the Minister what standards are in place in the department in terms of time frames to make sure the positions are filled in a timely and efficient manner and that grievances are addressed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do withdraw my remarks and apologize to the Premier if I offended him.

My question is for the Department of Human Resources.

Please provide a comprehensive, up-to-date list of direct appointments by department for the past four years.

Please provide the affirmative action status of those persons directly appointed and a justification for each hire.

Yes, I do, Mr, Speaker.

Mr. Minister, what immediate actions will you be taking to improve the morale and the overall functionality and credibility of the Department of Human Resources?

Mr. Speaker, all of the items I’ve listed here in my previous questions are the realities that exist today in the Department of Human Resources. All of the MLAs on this side of the House, or most of them, have received disturbing stories from constituents on the realities of working at or receiving services from the Department of Human Resources.

Is the Minister of Human Resources aware of the realities within the Department of Human Resources and the concerns of staff and the public?

Mr. Speaker, I've got some questions again today for the Minister of Human Resources.

The first question is: are micromanagement, retribution and dictatorial leadership effective ways of leading healthy and functional organizations or departments?

Mr. Speaker, well, if the Minister is adamant that’s the case, how come the last government and how come this government isn’t going back out to stakeholders and trying to find out exactly what the building of the Deh Cho Bridge will do to the cost of living here in the North Slave Region? How come they haven’t gone out and done that and talked to stakeholders, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to speak today about the reduction and reinvestment exercise currently being undertaken by the government.

The Premier has said that this is a new way of doing business, and indeed it is. I agree with the government taking a look at spending. As I've said, our current spending levels are not sustainable, and something needs to happen.

Whether, in fact, this is the right approach is debatable. What I am having difficulty with is how the government is entering into this whole reduction and reinvestment scheme without getting a baseline or an analysis done of information first...

Mr. Speaker, that Co-op study, the one that was done with local retailers, that was in 2002–2003. A lot has changed since then, Mr. Speaker. The price of gas has gone up tremendously. People can’t afford to heat their homes here in Yellowknife.

Everything that comes across that bridge, Mr. Speaker, is going to cost more. Why is it going to cost more? Because there’s going to be a toll put on transportation or transport trucks that are going across that bridge, and the cost is going to be passed on to consumers here in Yellowknife, in Behchoko, and in the rest of the North Slave Region.

And...