Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories recognize the right of each resident to receive services in the official language of their choice;

And further, this right should go beyond the concepts of "significant demand" and "nature of the office," and follow the principle of substantive equality.

And furthermore, as such the Government of the Northwest Territories should consider quantitative and qualitative characteristics when determining service levels to each official language community;

And furthermore, this right should...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No way I'm letting 42 minutes left on the clock.

Yesterday in the House, I asked the Minister of Infrastructure to provide an update on how much we estimate Taltson to cost and she refused to do that. And my concern here, Mr. Speaker, is the last cost estimate we have is $1.2 billion from 2013. I think it's fairly safe to say that in the last nine years, construction costs have increased. And I am really worried that this project is going to have a bit of sticker shock. It's going to be similar to Giant Mine which we were all talking about costing a billion dollars...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories commit to transparent retention practices by requiring all departments to develop and follow succession planning guidelines; maintain and share internal position tracking; track and share information about transfer assignments, and/or promotions; ensure that departmental succession planning is informed by employees' goals and expectations by connecting with development goals expressed by employees in the annual performance appraisals; ensure that all Indigenous employees in senior management...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment help ensure Indigenouslanguage early childhood education is available in each community;

And further, to achieve this vision, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment should provide additional and sufficient funding to program operators that use Indigenous languages. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think that may be where this problem lies in that there's a lack of trust and some people are not talking into a Department of Lands office any time soon, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister tell me whether Indigenous fishermen have a right to set up harvesting camps on the shores of Great Slave Lake, and what exactly that right would look like? Is there a limit to it? Are they allowed to set up a fish harvesting camp, but they're not allowed to do any commercial activity? Are they allowed to set up a fish harvesting camp, but they can't leave an ice shack there...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories attract Indigenous professionals with roots and relations in the Northwest Territories to take public service positions with the GNWT by creating an outreach campaign targeting Northwest Territories residents studying outside the Northwest Territories; offering incentives to returning students; and, requiring that hiring managers are aware of the campaign. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Finance set up an Indigenous Languages Revitalization Fund in order to support Indigenous employees in the effort to reclaim, revitalize, and maintain and strengthen their languages. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the Department of Lands set out on their unauthorized occupancy quest, we were told that anyone with an Indigenous right would be put in a separate category and dealt with later. And, Mr. Speaker, recently one of my constituents, who is an Indigenous fisherman, was kicked off of public land. And I'm trying to understand why this happened. I don't want to get into specifics of this one case, but I would like the Department of Lands to give us some guidance here. And, Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I think we all have to recognize how complicated Indigenous rights...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories establish uniform, clear, and accessible appeal process for public service positions that establishes a mechanism empowering priority 1 candidates with the ability and enough time to appeal a hiring decision before a job is offered to a nonpriority 1 candidate; operates independently and arm's length from government; and, an appeal body that is representative of the Indigenous population with a minimum Indigenous membership of 50 percent; clearly outlines how appeals can be requested and...

Madam Chair, I move that this committee recommends that each department and agency be required to create an individual language training account for each person;

And further, the account should guarantee each Indigenous employee a minimum number of hours of language training in any Indigenous official language, as a first or second language. Thank you, Madam Chair.