Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement on the Mackenzie Valley Review Board employees, those six employees that were fired. Mr. Speaker, if I may, the review board is almost like an arm’s length, a bit of a reach on some of the work we do here, but they were unceremoniously fired last week. My question to the Premier is, and I’m going to link towards a devolution type of relationship because they are an agency we depend on. Would the Premier be willing to look at assisting those employees, those six Yellowknifers that were fired, by putting them on our priority staffing list to ensure they at least have a fair opportunity to help bring forward some of their important expertise to service here in the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now the Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in Canada that has seen a decrease in population. So, of course, we’d be interested in trying to find ways to have these six people find gainful employment. The MVEIRB is a creature from the federal government and we do have a process for the orderly transfer of employees that will be devolved from the federal government to the Government of the Northwest Territories. I’d be very interested in contacting these six individuals and trying to find employment for them within the Government of the Northwest Territories. As a matter of fact, I recently checked and I think we have about 100-some vacant positions in Yellowknife right now, so I definitely think we can do something about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
A perfect answer, Mr. Speaker, a perfect answer.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.
