Wendy Bisaro

I challenge the Premier to prove to me that we are improving the efficiency of programs and services when we remove long-standing employees from the position where they have become quite proficient.

To the Premier, I’d like to know what analysis has been done of the actions taken with regard to decentralization to date. What are the results from, I think it’s phase one and phase two that we’ve completed at this point of the decentralization plan? How many positions were vacant? How many were vacant or new positions? How many employees did we lose? How many employees left the NWT taking our $25...

Thanks to the Premier for that information. Just one last question. I’d like to ask about negotiations with both the federal government and Lutselk'e Dene Band in and around the Thaidene Nene National Park. Where do we stand as the GNWT? What is our role in these negotiations? Can I get some kind of a status report on where the negotiations are at? Are they at a standstill? Are they moving forward? Are they going backwards? We haven’t heard anything about it for quite some time.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We would like to continue with consideration of Tabled Document 188-17(5). We would like consider and conclude general comments and then get on to the departments of Human Resources and Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations, time permitting. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the deputy minister. My other question has to do with retaining employees. There’s been a fairly large emphasis, I guess, from what we hear from the department and what we sort of see in the budget, an emphasis on recruitment, but I would like to know what we are doing in terms of a retention strategy. Do we have one and what efforts is the department making to keep people in the workforce as opposed to losing them? Thank you.

The office of a seniors advocate could have a key role in supporting a shift in public attitude by promoting and celebrating the positive aspects of aging, including the invaluable experience and wisdom that comes with older age. I urge the government to consider this initiative and to respond. Thank you.

What is that time frame? Eight weeks? Six weeks? Ten weeks? Twelve weeks?

I guess I would suggest that it sounds as though what’s in the best interests of a policy is going to be followed through, never mind the best interests of the employee and/or their families, and I have a problem with that.

Last question has to do with the length of time for us to complete competitions. I believe that the department has an eight week target length of time to complete competitions. I’d like to know from the Minister whether or not they have been improving on the length of time to complete competitions in the last year or if they have actually had an increase in the length of...

To the Minister, then, maybe unfilled is the wrong term. What is the policy for decentralization? Do we decentralize positions without somebody in them? When the PY is moved from one community to the next, does the person not go with it? That’s why I’m asking if it’s a vacant position, or if it’s a new position that would then suggest to me that it needs to be filled. What is the policy for decentralization?

Okay. I am not quite sure how to get around that one, but I will ask a different question. This department, I presume, is involved in the issue of decentralization, a policy that this government has put in place in the last couple of years. I would like to know how the Department of HR is involved in the decentralization process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank for the explanations. Just a comment, I am pretty much floored by the fact that the numbers that we have in front of us for this department were not comparing apples to apples basically. These numbers have been fudged, so to speak, to remove the 71 positions from the previous year’s estimates so that the numbers can look good. I’m having difficulty following this, so I can only imagine what somebody in the public is going to be doing in looking at this. They are going to think everything is just grand.

There’s no reference in here to the fact that the numbers have...