David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Department of Human Resources. The statement that I made today was very similar in nature to ones that I have made in this House many times before in the past year. Today we’ve spent $450,000 via a sole sourced contract to an American company to have a look at what’s wrong with our Human Resources department. I’d like to first of all start off by saying last year I was getting complaints from residents, from employees, the public, former employees about the effectiveness and the accountability...

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The motion is in order.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions again today are for the Honourable Floyd Roland, Minister responsible for the public service in the Northwest Territories. I guess I'll start off by just saying numbers do not lie. If you looked around the country and his Human Resources department went out and did a comparison of rates of persons with disabilities that are employed in various public services across this country, the Northwest Territories would rank absolutely at the bottom of that list, Mr. Speaker, and I think that is an absolute shame. I'd like to ask the Minister...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Boy, am I ever looking forward to that paper coming to see the light of day and see the work that the $450,000 that went to an American company to study the human resources problems come to light. I'd like to see it and I'd like to see it soon, because again, Mr. Speaker, the majority of concerns I hear from constituents today come from pay and benefits and issues dealing with our Human Resources department. Bar none, it's the most. I'd like to again ask the Minister why he would continue to treat arguably the most disadvantaged and underrepresented group...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been obvious that the affirmative action policy has needed a replacement for years. This is nothing new. When will we have this new employment equity policy that the Minister speaks of and when will the disparity be addressed? I will certainly have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions again today are for the Honourable Floyd Roland, Minister responsible for the public service in the Northwest Territories. I guess I'll start off by just saying numbers do not lie. If you looked around the country and his Human Resources department went out and did a comparison of rates of persons with disabilities that are employed in various public services across this country, the Northwest Territories would rank absolutely at the bottom of that list, Mr. Speaker, and I think that is an absolute shame. I'd like to ask the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been obvious that the affirmative action policy has needed a replacement for years. This is nothing new. When will we have this new employment equity policy that the Minister speaks of and when will the disparity be addressed? I will certainly have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do take issue with what the Minister is saying because the affirmative action policy and direct appointments fly right in the face of what the Minister just said, because appointments are made and this government has made many of them that really don't have much merit. You can go and talk to a lot of different people and they'll tell you the exact same thing. The Minister said yesterday in the House that affirmative action didn't come into play with direct appointments. I beg to differ. They're trying to get the numbers up in one category and...

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the fact that now I have armed with some real numbers and statistics, I guess yesterday was a different story the Minister gave me, was the fact that in the Northwest Territories maybe people don't self identify disabilities. But in fact, in other jurisdictions across this country the self-identification process is at play. So I believe it's a fair comparison to compare the amount of disabled persons working for the Northwest Territories government with other jurisdictions; absolutely a fair comparison. I'd like to ask the Minister, aside...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do take issue with what the Minister is saying because the affirmative action policy and direct appointments fly right in the face of what the Minister just said, because appointments are made and this government has made many of them that really don't have much merit. You can go and talk to a lot of different people and they'll tell you the exact same thing. The Minister said yesterday in the House that affirmative action didn't come into play with direct appointments. I beg to differ. They're trying to get the numbers up in one category and...