Mr. Chairman, there seemed to be an indication by the previous government that there were going to be some financial difficulties ahead unless it allowed only a one per cent growth, or less than one per cent growth, with regard to person years. The government must also be aware that in 1988 I made a motion with regard to a reduction in the person years of 2.5 per cent with another 2.5 per cent the following year. I do not know what the discussions were with regard to the motion I made. I do not know whether or not it was ever discussed. I would like to tell the Government Leader, on the Executive at that time, that it was a reasonable motion.
In 1988, there were approximately 340 vacant positions open. Implementing something like this could have avoided the situation we were in. How did you come up with this? Is it a one per cent person year growth during the four years of our term of office? During the first year that I was in office, I thought there was an eight per cent growth in person years. My motion in 1988 was to reduce it by 2.5 per cent for the first year and 2.5 per cent for the second or last year of our term. I guess this did not happen.
What is the less than one per cent person year growth? Was this during the last year of our term?