It's official - the GNWT will be replacing its current affirmative action hiring policy on March 31 with the new Indigenous Employment Policy on April 1. It's a move that has been met with serious contention from both MLAs and Indigenous governments.
Finance Minister Caroline Wawzonek spoke about the policy at a public hearing at the legislative assembly on Tuesday morning and said the new policy follows a two-tiered system: first and second priorities for hires.
She explained first priorities are for people who are recognized members and descendants of First Nations, Metis or Inuit peoples indigenous to the boundaries of the NWT, while second priority people include those who are members and descendants of all those same groups, only to areas outside the NWT but within Canada.
"I think this is where some folks have been saying there's been prioritization of southern Indigenous people," said Wawzonek during the briefing, adding that she's also heard from others who are Indigenous and living in the NWT, but are not members within its present boundaries.
Wawzonek used the example of someone living in the Gwich'in region, but who may be a member of an Indigenous group from the Yukon.
"This is to try and ensure we are capturing the fact that we want to prioritize Indigenous peoples broadly and include anyone that may be found within the Northwest Territories who is Indigenous," Wawzonek said.
Another concern surrounding the new policy is that it doesn't support prioritize hiring people with disabilities, which Great Slave MLA Kate Reid pointed out during the briefing.
"Preferential hiring for people with disabilities goes away on April 1," said Reid, asking Wawzonek what plans she has to provide a better equity lense when it comes to hiring.
For now, the GNWT is still doing research on what the best practice is to implement an employment equity policy, according to Tisha Heron, manager of diversity and inclusion with the Department of Finance.
Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins said education is key, not policy. He asked Wawzonek what consultation has been done with Indigenous governments about gaps in the policy, namely when it comes to hiring people with disabilities.
Wawzonek said multiple letters and invitations have been sent to Indigenous governments over the years for presentations on the proposed policy changes.
In 2022, she responded, the Department of Finance provided an overview to the Northwest Territories Council of Leaders' secretariat as well and more recently public surveys and town halls.
"Over the course of several years, I've had the opportunity to hear directly from Indigenous governments at bi-lateral meetings, at council leaders meetings at [intergovernmental council meetings] and the need to hire more Indigenous people comes up over and over and over again," said Wawzonek.
In February 2025, Dettah Chief Ernest Betsina told NNSL Media the GNWT never consulted with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation about the employment policy change.
"We are concerned, we feel that it's a negative impact on Indigenous residents here in the Northwest Territories," he said at the time.
Heron acknowledged that taking away the affirmative action policy will create gaps.
"What is being done to prioritize local hiring residents who are disabled, resident women has been highlighted to us," she said.
Another point discussed during the briefing was prioritizing Northerners in general. Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart made the point that an Indigenous person from Ontario might not edge out an Indigenous person in the NWT, but could still get priority over a NWT resident in general.
Wawzonek explained the new policy is an attempt to reflect representation of Indigenous people in Canada, as well as the NWT, which is what the two-tiered system aims for.
"I don't sense that there's a line-up at the border of people who want to come North," Wawzonek added. "I've certainly heard it said to me that if there is an opportunity to bring a councillor who is a member of an Indigenous group from a southern jurisdiction, they may well have a worldview that better aligns with that of a small community here and therefore not be unwelcomed to come join and bring that perspective to the North."
Wawzonek added the Yukon government follows a similar system and has not seen a major influx of Indigenous people.
According to the NWT Bureau of Statistics, its most recent findings from 2021 indicate a little more than half of the NWT's workforce a have less than a high school level of education with only six per cent of Indigenous residents having a university degree. Meanwhile, more than 36 per cent of non-Indigenous residents have one.
Indigenous employees who are recognized members or descendants of First Nations, Métis, or Inuit peoples indigenous to the boundaries of the NWT make up almost a third of the GNWT's workforce, compared to almost half of the NWT population, according to the GNWT.
