Listen: Will the GNWT’s new Indigenous Employment Policy work?

Multiple Northwest Territories MLAs say the new Indigenous employment policy being rolled out by the NWT government in April gets it wrong.

In a letter this week, seven regular MLAs – Jane Weyallon Armstrong, Richard Edjericon, Robert Hawkins, Kieron Testart, Daniel McNeely, George Nerysoo and Sheryl Yakeleya – said the new policy was being introduced despite “unresolved concerns.”

A committee of NWT MLAs had already formally objected to the new policy, which prioritizes the hiring of Indigenous people but removes any prioritization for non-Indigenous northerners, women and people with disabilities.

The GNWT says the old affirmative action policy, which prioritized numerous groups including all of those listed above, was not fit for purpose.

The proportion of Indigenous employees at the territorial government has been gradually falling for years and sits at 28.7 percent, a record low in a territory where nearly half of the residents are Indigenous.

Edjericon and Testart, two of the MLAs who oppose the policy, joined Cabin Radio to discuss their concerns. Caroline Wawzonek, the minister responsible for the policy, told us why she believes it’s the right path forward.

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Testart and Edjericon say they oppose the policy in part because:

• it lacks prioritization for northern Indigenous people over Indigenous workers from the south;
• Indigenous governments and residents were, in their view, inadequately consulted; and
• the deletion of prioritization for non-Indigenous northerners is an example of a pattern in which the benefits of NWT life are being eroded.

While the GNWT has said its old affirmative action policy may have been unconstitutional, Testart said the territory could use the notwithstanding clause – which allows a government to override aspects of the Charter in some circumstances – to retain it.

Wawzonek, defending the policy, said:

• consultation had taken place, and one of the things heard during that process was that not all Indigenous people in the North (including, for example, Nunavummiut) had benefited from the affirmative action policy;
• the new policy is part of a broader suite of changes, including revamped job descriptions and making more use of existing hiring tools;
• some of those tools can help ensure people with a particular knowledge of a region or culture are the ones hired for the job, rather than southerners;
• protections for minorities and people with disabilities still exist, even if prioritization does not; and
• the process for internship hiring won’t change, so Indigenous and non-Indigenous northerners using that program will still see the same benefit as before.

“Our current policy, although I think people like to peg it as being one that’s for northerners, it’s not,” said Wawzonek, referring to affirmative action.

“It’s for people born here, whether or not they still live here, or people who live here half their life.”

Of non-Indigenous northerners, she added: “There’s one-percent unemployment for non-Indigenous Canadians in the North, so people need not worry if they’re looking for employment. Anyone who’s non-Indigenous in the North in the workforce is employed.”

Ultimately, said Wawzonek: “For 35 years, we’ve had a policy. And people ask: ‘Are you hiring?’ And we say we’ve applied the affirmative action policy. For 35 years, we’ve not achieved a workforce that is representative of the Indigenous population of the North.”

More: Read a copy of the new policy

Asked why the new Indigenous employment policy is her preferred solution to that problem, she said: “We’re actually pretty out of step with the rest of Canada in terms of how we approach ways to increase hiring from demographics that are not well represented.

“Most other jurisdictions long ago moved away from this concept of affirmative action and into looking at diversity and inclusion efforts and frameworks, as well as some priority hiring. So Yukon, for instance, has moved to something much more similar to what we’re proposing here.”

Edjericon said the NWT’s education system must improve to ensure Indigenous northerners are empowered to join the territorial government.

Wawzonek agreed but said the GNWT’s hiring policies “cannot wait” for that to happen.

She hopes to see signs of positive change in the next three years.

“If we do, and when we do, I think it’ll be because we’re taking a bigger approach to it and not trying to just use one policy tool or one hiring change,” she said.

Correction: December 20, 2024 – 13:30 MT. This article initially stated the GNWT’s affirmative action policy provides prioritization for Black people among other groups. It doesn’t actually do so. (You can read the current policy on the territorial government’s website.)