Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be frank about it. There is not one single department responsible for domestic violence, nor is there a Minister responsible for domestic violence. What there is, fortunately, is a recognition by this Cabinet of that gap, and a recognition of the need to fix that gap. What I would offer instead is to commit to the Member that I will take it upon myself to ensure that there is an answer to that question in the life of the Assembly, sooner rather than later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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, 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...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There is currently, in fact, an evaluation underway of that program, and if we can, we will endeavour to provide the deadline of when to expect that back; if not imminently, then I would commit to providing details as to when we are expected to have that report back. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know there is a budget for leadership training and for corrections training generally, and I think it probably does fall within this area, so I will leave it to the Member for her next question. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank, Mr. Chair. It certainly is my intention as a Minister to ensure that any new programs that are being offered to members of the public do receive appropriate media or other types of communications. I would just note for the Member that, at this point, when I say the end of March, that will be when the applications are going to be accepted. I don't want to create a false expectation on the part of the public that they would then turn around and immediately have recalculations done with finality. I think perhaps, with respect to when the communication goes out in a formal fashion, it might...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I acknowledge that there certainly has been a delay since even, I believe, the date that I provided to the House with respect to some aspects of the process. In order to have a cannabis store, there was first an RFQ, request for qualifications, that was sent out this summer, and then there needed to be an RFP, a request for proposals. That process was due out in January. I acknowledge that it's now not January. I am assured that that will be complete and that that will public this month. I will certainly ensure that I am doing my best to follow up on that date. At...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. They don't necessarily need to be a resident of Yellowknife in order to. My understanding, anyhow, is that they don't need to be a resident of Yellowknife at the time of being accepted. Acceptance is based more on a referral, and referrals have to come in through a service provider within the social envelope that are participants in the ICM program. I can certainly confirm, and I've been told stories directly about individuals who have continued to receive services through the ICM program even when they have returned home to their home communities. Thank you, Mr. Chair.