N.W.T. government proposes replacements for affirmative action policy

The N.W.T.'s beleaguered Affirmative Action Policy could be soon scrapped and replaced with new hiring practices aimed at improving diversity within the public service workforce.

The territorial Department of Finance shared the potential change in a service announcement on Tuesday. 

It comes as part of the territory's ongoing bid to increase the representation of underrepresented groups — particularly Indigenous residents.

During a line of questioning in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, finance minister Caroline Wawzonek said the policy has not evolved since its development in 1989, and is "woefully out of date." 

"It is not in keeping with best practices, [and] it arguably not may not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," she said. "And it's not showing achievement. 

The territory is currently sitting at 30 per cent representation of Indigenous people, in a territory with 50 per cent representation. 

"So, we know there's work to be done." 

Two new policies to possibly take over for affirmative action

The finance department is now proposing a switch from the current affirmative action approach, which gives priority hiring to Indigenous residents and non-Indigenous residents who have spent most of their lives here. 

It would instead rely on guidance from two new ones: an Indigenous Employment Policy, and an Employment Equity Policy.

The Indigenous Employment Policy would prioritize Dene, Inuit, or Métis people "indigenous to the present boundaries of the N.W.T."

Meanwhile, the Employment Equity Policy would give preferred hiring status to "Indigenous Canadians, racialized persons, persons living with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community, and long-term northerners." 

According to the department, the Indigenous Employment Policy would take precedence over the Employment Equity Policy.

"It is my hope … that the new way of approaching this targets groups that are underrepresented, does so in a way that is reflective of the values of the North, and I hope will start to get us to a place where we have a representative public service," Wawzonek said.

Some good, some bad with proposed changes, says Thebacha MLA    

One N.W.T. MLA has expressed doubts on whether this policy switch-up can deliver on the promised improvement. 

Freida Martselos is the MLA for Thebacha and one of the Affirmative Action Policy's most vocal critics. 

Raising the new policies in the legislature on Friday, she said she agreed with priority hiring for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents from the territory.

"However, I don't agree with them doing priority hiring to … all Indigenous Canadians at large," Martselos continued. 

She added: "To be clear, I have no issues with Indigenous Canadians who are not born in the N.W.T. being employed by our public service. I just take issue with that group of people getting the same affirmative action status as the Dene, Inuit and Métis people born in the N.W.T."

Martselos said she feels this approach does not solve the problems with the previous policy, and simply widens the net being cast rather than trying to fix barriers to representation.  

To finalize the policies, Wawzonek said her department will be directly engaging with Indigenous governments. 

It has also opened a virtual survey to get the public's thoughts on the matter. Residents have until March 31 to respond to the survey and submit feedback.

Over the next two months, the territory will host a series of public engagement sessions, with stops in Hay River, Fort Simpson, Délı̨nę, and Tuktoyaktuk, among other communities. 

The full schedule is available online.