Rocky Simpson

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document:

Government of Canada, Travel: Proof of Vaccination for Indigenous Peoples and Northerners in Remote Communities at December 1st, 2021. Thank you.

Thank you. Premier.

Thank you. Ms. Martselos.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Well, I'm glad that, you know, that something's happening and, you know, one area that we could probably, you know, do something with and I think this has been alluded to is that the Office of the Fire Marshal, when you look at, you know, how much money we put into it, well, we know it's probably understaffed and that you know, and I know it takes a while to you know, to review documents. So we either got to put more money into it or, you know, farm some of that out, which it sounds like we might be doing because our or building seasons are short. The price of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess that's where the confusion lies, is that, you know, we put the onus on the Office of the Fire Marshal and legislation there. And so, you know, when I look at what the fire marshal does, I thought it was kind of just related to, you know, anything that to do with fire aspect of it. But it goes on it goes on to into getting into the structural design and all that as well, which people are which I know which which companies are kind of having a problem with because what's happening is that, you know, architects, structural engineers who are doing designs, you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need to be bold if we want to see change. So I ask the Minister, will the Minister commit to a temporary suspension of the Affirmative Action Policy and departmental targets and replace it with a oneyear moratorium on nonIndigenous hires and transfers throughout this government in favour of a focus on Indigenous recruitment? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And now 30 years later, will the Minister commit to finding workable solutions to overcome those barriers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to 1989, this government recognized an inequity with respect to Indigenous representation in the GNWT public sector. In an attempt to address that inequity, the government of the day drafted the Affirmative Action Policy. It was a spirited attempt to place Indigenous people into the public sector workforce.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to discuss that intent with one of the original drafters. He explained to me that the intent was to increase Indigenous representation, period. Through vetting and additional drafting revisions, the objective...

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, and I'm glad that, you know, that's happening. And, you know, I just wanted him to, you know, come and say that again so people hear it. And, you know, we need to look at a you know, we people like to see timelines because we're always, well, we're working on it but, you know, we come up with something, and, you know, it might it probably won't happen this Assembly. Maybe it'll happen next one, the one after that, I don't know. But I think that what's going to happen here is we're just going to see that that gap ever increasing. And, you know, it's going...