Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 27/02) - The territorial government has adopted a new approach to developing a home-grown public service.

The affirmative action hiring policy will eventually be phased out, replaced by what the government is calling an employment equity approach to human resource development.

"Employment equity is based on the philosophy that employers will hire a representative work force because it makes good business and operational sense to do so," Premier Stephen Kakfwi said recently when asked to elaborate on the new approach.

Criticized over the years as ineffective, the affirmative action policy is aimed at developing a territorial public service that is representative of the population. Most of the criticism has focused on the lack of Northern aboriginals in senior management positions.

The old policy gave preference in hiring and promotion to aboriginal, female, disabled and non-aboriginals who have spent more than half of their life in the North.

Employment equity will take a broader look at human resource development.

"It includes a whole range of supports throughout a person's career," said Lynn Elkin, executive director of the government's corporate human resources division.

Some new supports have already been introduced. The graduate employment program, for example, gives Northern students who have graduated from post-secondary institutions one year of on-the-job training in government.

The succession planning program, another part of the new approach, gives those already employed in government the opportunity to gain experience in different roles and different departments with a view to developing senior managers.

Though the employment equity approach is already being implemented, the affirmative action policy is not going to be abandoned any time soon.

"I expect that it will be here for another two years at least," Elkin said.