IQALUIT - Whether the Government of Nunavut is on pace to have a workforce reflective of the Inuit population is a question the territorial Department of Human Resources is not willing to answer.

Emily Ridlington/NNSL photo Louise Wasson, deputy minister of the Department of Human Resources, appeared before the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts at a public hearing at the legislative assembly on Sept. 27. She would not say if all GN departments will be able to meet the government's goal of having a public workforce representative of the territory's 85 per cent Inuit population by 2020.

However, it has begun starting to measure progress and has committed to reviewing its policies.

"We're not saying we will or we won't (meet future goals)," Louise Wasson, deputy minister of Human Resouces, told the Standing Committee on Oversight of Government Operations and Public Accounts at a public hearing at the legislative assembly on Sept. 27.

The Government of Nunavut's Department of Human Resources only started tracking how long it takes to fill vacant positions as of several months ago, Wasson said.

She appeared before the committee as a response to auditor general Sheila Fraser's report in March which stated the Government of Nunavut is not likely to meet its goal of having a representative workforce in all departments by 2020.

Fraser, also present at the hearing, reiterated there will not be enough qualified Inuit to fill all those government positions.

Article 23 of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement requires the GN to staff public service positions with a workforce representative of the territory's Inuit population, which is currently 85 per cent. The goal for 2010 was to achieve 56 per cent representation.

Wasson said the GN has achieved 52 per cent representation. In the administrative category there is 94 per cent representation while it measures 70 per cent in paraprofessional jobs – where Inuit are qualified as assistants to professionals in fields such as law, education and health.

The greatest gap lies in the executive management and professional categories. Several months ago, the department set up a competition database that will track how long it takes to fill positions and at what stage of the process the applications stand. This will be used first in the HR department headquarters, then will be expanded to community-based HR offices and then across all other government departments. The goal is to have this done by March 2011. When asked why something like this wasn't set up before, the deputy minister said she couldn't comment as she has only been in her current position for two months.

"We will start with priority positions but they haven't determined them yet," Wasson said. Territorial politicians including MLA for Akulliq John Ningark wanted to know why it has taken the government so long to get more beneficiaries in the workforce. "It is now over 10 years and we have not achieved the goal we were led to believe, it is not only about employment in the government for the majority of the people, it is also about equality," he said.

MLA for Iqaluit West Paul Okalik did some homework and presented members with two job advertisements from the Globe & Mail; one for a GN controller general for the Department of Finance and an assistant deputy minister position for the Department of Health. He said nowhere in the advertisement did it mention there is priority hiring for Inuit.

"Why aren't we mentioning our affirmative action policy when we advertise," he asked Wasson.

She had no response. Okalik said the positions were not advertised in Nunavut. "Who are we trying to entice to our employment when we don't even bother with our own citizens and where Inuit are," he asked. MLA for Quttiktuq Ron Elliott said there has to be changes at fundamental levels and there is a difference between training and education.

"The foundation of education is not there," he said.

Fraser agreed with Elliott and said for many of the professional positions where the government has identified gaps students will need, at minimum, a university education.

"There has to be much more emphasis on having students complete high school and then going on to post-secondary education," Fraser said.

In addition to the database, the government pledges to develop a human resource strategy by 2012 and a review of the department by December 2011.

Fraser was asked by an MLA if she thought the plan would be viable.

"I would hope that when departments make commitments they can actually live up to those commitments, only time will really tell how successful this action plan is," she said.

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