Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday and today was a learning opportunity for myself as we started going through the Department of Education's mains. As many may have heard in the Committee of the Whole, I was very disappointed to hear that we lost two half-time positions within the department. One was a vacant position that was moved to the North Slave and the other one was to be eliminated as part of the reduction plan. I was really concerned because I was not aware of the eliminated position. As we were going through the business plans, the departments identified potential reductions whether it was program, services, or staffing. The proposed reductions were clearly identified by the departments during committee and by the Finance Minister during many briefings. During this time, the committee identified their concerns with the proposed reduction and provided the department and the Finance Minister with our recommendations. This led to another round of discussions about the proposals. This was challenging, but as I was finding out, this is all part of the consensus government.
However, yesterday during the Committee of the Whole, as we were going through the Department of Education mains, we had a hiccup. It seems that we had two half-time positions removed from the Dehcho. When I questioned the Minister about these reductions, he said they did go before committee with all the reductions and all the information provided to committee. My reply was that I thank the Minister for his answer but I regretfully disagree. I go on to say that at no point was I aware that these positions were going to be cut. This leads to my second lesson today. As I was doing research on the cuts, after speaking with research, the Minister of Education, Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Finance’s special advisor, we were able to find out there was only one half-time position being transferred to the North Slave, which was vacant for a long time in Dehcho. The other half-time position was not going to be eliminated in the Dehcho. Therefore, when I make a mistake, I own up to it as my father tells me to do. The Minister of Education was correct that the half-time position was identified in the business plan. I apologize to him and his department. As well, I am happy to tell the people in the Nahendeh riding that there were no positions being reduced from this department. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the research department, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and the Minister of Finance's special advisor for helping clear up this issue. As I said before, this was a learning opportunity to get better as an MLA and to better understand dealing with the business plans in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
