N.W.T. gov't to set Indigenous hiring targets within public service

Northwest Territories finance officials say they have a plan for increasing Indigenous representation and leadership in the public service, and that each government department will be setting Indigenous hiring targets.

"This is new, there haven't been targets before," Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek said at a public hearing on the government's Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework on Wednesday. 

"There certainly haven't been public targets or enforceable targets, and those targets certainly haven't been tied to the evaluation of the performance of the senior management team."

At the hearing, broadcast on the Legislative Assembly's social media channels, officials touted their Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework and Action Plan as road maps for hiring and promoting more Indigenous people, for creating a more inclusive workplace, and for folding Indigenous perspectives into various aspects of government.

They also spoke about getting government departments to identify barriers faced by current and prospective Indigenous employees.

"If we achieve the fundamental goal of being inclusive and respectful and representative of the public we're serving, we're a better public service for everyone, [and the government] is a better place to work," Wawzonek told the standing committee on government operations. 

"I really think if we can achieve these goals, it achieves so much goodness for everyone."

29.3 per cent of N.W.T. gov't is Indigenous

According to the 2020-2021 annual report on the N.W.T. public service, 29.3 per cent of the government workforce is Indigenous. In senior management, that figure is 20 per cent. 

Meanwhile, census data shows Indigenous people account for about 51 per cent of the territory's population.

Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Lesa Semmler said the government has an affirmative action policy, and yet it's doing a worse job of employing Indigenous people than it was nine years ago. She asked about the government's time frame for reaching hiring goals.

Krista Carnogursky, manager of diversity and inclusion in the Finance department, said every department will be required to set hiring targets within three years, five years and 10 years, and those targets will be public.

Semmler also asked how the government's plan will increase the Indigenous representation within senior management, specifically.

At the territorial government, all middle and senior management positions require a university-level education, but according to the government's Indigenous recruitment and retention framework, Indigenous people in N.W.T. are less likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts to have finished post-secondary education. 

The framework says N.W.T. Indigenous employees who do have a university-level education are more likely to secure a management position than their non-Indigenous counterparts. 

Carnogursky said the government will use mentorship and succession planning programs to help advance Indigenous employees.

'Time will tell'

Thebacha MLA Freida Martselos put forward a motion last March calling upon the territorial government to review its hiring policies and practices for racial and cultural bias. 

On Wednesday, Martselos asked what the government is doing to educate managers about Indigenous culture and help them recognize the strengths Indigenous employees bring to government.

"There seems to be resentment as soon as an Indigenous employee is hired" over a non-Indigenous employee, she said.

Carnogursky said something they heard from Indigenous governments was the need to foster a safe and inclusive workplace of Indigenous employees. 

"That's part of the reason that the Indigenous cultural awareness training is mandatory … anti-racism training is mandatory for employees," she said. "We will be developing unconscious bias training, as well, to address exactly what we're saying." 

Martselos said "time will tell" if the government's plan actually helps Indigenous employees advance into management positions.