Louis Sebert

The Member opposite has referenced the 10 per cent on which the land rentals or leases are based; that's a long-standing procedure, and I would submit that it is reasonable.

Mr. Chair, I do believe there is evidence that growth in the resource economy has slowed. I hope that is just not anecdotal evidence that I have heard. I do believe that there has been far less in the oil and gas industry, down the valley. As to the diamond industry referenced by the Member, there has been continuing robust, some robust activity in that. One mine has closed down, and another one has opened. With respect to Snap Lake specifically, I understand that inspections to this point have raised no concerns. Thank you.

I think one of the possibilities we are looking at is to make the clerical and organizational functions part of the department, that is delivered by the government. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chair, I do know that the federal government does in fact pay for inmates who are up here, so it is not as though we suffer any loss from it. In fact, I understand, looking at some figures, that $1.6 million is anticipated, and the actuals in 2015-16 were for $1.35 million.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand that about $400,000 of that goes to the contractor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to think that all of our decisions are evidencebased. Thank you.

As we've mentioned previously, the Lands department was only created a couple of years ago, and there was an amalgamation of employees who worked for the territorial government and those that formerly worked for the federal government, and naturally there were overlaps when the systems to incorporate cultures, if I can put it that way, were combined. So when we were looking at the situation, we looked at areas where we thought there could be rational evidence-based reductions, and for that reason we looked at the positions and determined that these positions were ones that could be reduced...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, we are working on the priorities, building on the priorities of past years. Thank you.

Going beyond the word "attempt," you will get your clarification.

It is still a FMB decision, so it would come to FMB. Of course, ultimately it has to be approved here.