Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Departments of Justice and Finance will be so excited today. As I have said, I already have committed to ensuring that I will report back to this House as to the best place in which we are going to house the issue of domestic violence and solving domestic violence, and when I make that report, I will report back on where and who will be working to bring the resources together.

There are times where having a specific and defined resource is to the benefit of someone with a specific, defined issue; there may be other times where an individual wants to get all of the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am very confident in the skills and abilities and dedication of the staff in the human resources department. These individuals work hard. They are working hard to be developing a representative workforce. That doesn't mean that that work happens over a day, and it doesn't mean that we have a representative workforce right now. Not to take away for a moment from the hard work that happens within that department. I do have every confidence that they are working toward that goal. That goal, however, as was already noted, has been noted more than once in this House, is...

The Department of Human Resources is constantly working to ensure that it is doing the best it can to be a representative workforce. To that end, as I've said before in this House in the last month, there are a variety of programs. They are continuously making efforts to be responsive as new ideas arise to be innovative. For instance, developing the building capacity in Indigenous governments program that is being worked on right now is one where it's helping to build capacity in communities with secondments between the GNWT and Indigenous governments.

There's a constant effort to find new and...

The Affirmative Action Policy is one that has different classifications depending on the types of jobs to which someone is applying. A P1 individual, for example, is someone who is Indigenous Aboriginal to the territory or someone who is Aboriginal and spent more than half their life in the Northwest Territories. There are also the P2 classifications. Depending, for a management position, there are 1A and 1B classifications. They are quite rigorous. They are clearly stated and, indeed, if someone meets one of those classifications and passes the requirements for a position, they are hired even...

I understand that the Member has some concerns, perhaps arising from specific incidents. I am not sure. If that is the case, I want Members in this House to bring specific concerns to me. I have had specific concerns brought forward. We've actioned them. We take them back to the department. We run investigations. You make enquiries. Individuals who don't receive positions have appeal rights in some cases. I would encourage those who have access to such appeal rights to exercise them. Appeals are done by independent individuals, not Members of the GNWT. Indeed, very often workplace...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yes, I do have a breakdown by community that we can provide to the Member. Money that flows through the Victim Services does go direct to the individual communities via community partners, whether it's community governments or organizations such as the Native Women's Association. Subject to what the Member might say, I would suggest a commitment to providing the allocation by community after, as part of our response, but I certainly can read the numbers out if that's preferred. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is a brand now complex in Fort Smith, which is obviously there, but it's not the therapeutic community. The therapeutic community is the one that is actually in Hay River. The idea there is that there are four phases that are going to be provided to individuals who come into contact with the system. From the very earliest integration into the facility, rather than being in a position where they are sort of told how to manage their lives and controlled, they are given increasing ability and opportunities to take responsibility for their own actions, and as they do...

The Stanton Territorial Hospital is a world-class facility. It is going to provide an opportunity for residents of the Northwest Territories, all residents of the Northwest Territories, to access services that would have otherwise not been available to us. While we acknowledge that there have been some challenges in the early, very early, stages of the roll-out of this very large and complex building, I am confident that those services are going to be here and to provide for all residents of the Northwest Territories. The P3 process for the Stanton Territorial Hospital was subject to quite...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It may be that the Member is referencing the special constable program. The special constable program was and is a program that is run under the RCMP. In general, although under the territorial police financing agreement there is a contribution that is made towards funding of training for the RCMP, the Department of Justice in the Northwest Territories does not otherwise have direct control over the different training programs that are offered by the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, the P1 designation is one that is held by the GNWT, created by the GNWT's processes. I do not have any information that it is a status that applies within the RCMP, and I have no control over the RCMP's hiring process. Thank you, Mr. Chair.