Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to an oral question asked by Mr. Ootes on May 14th regarding rates of pay for student summer employment.
The GNWT is only able to institute a new student summer wage rate through the collective bargaining process with the union. As I mentioned the other day, we did, in fact, put forth a proposal for new student rates with the union in our most recent round of collective bargaining. However, agreement on this issue was not reached.
The GNWT does not have a specific student hiring program. Students access jobs through the casual employment program. Although there is no centralized database regarding the number of potential student job opportunities, the Personnel Secretariat has informed us that approximately 72 students have been hired in headquarters as of May 14, 1996. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.