Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I had the opportunity to question the Premier about the motion we passed in this House four months ago. That motion asked the Premier to initiate a quest that a comprehensive list of federal civil service positions dedicated to policy, development and programming in the Northwest Territories currently located in southern jurisdictions be developed by September 30th and that upon receipt of this comprehensive listing, the Premier initiate discussions with the appropriate federal Ministers to facilitate the relocations as an interim step towards eventual devolution.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Premier indicated in his response to my question that he has not acted on an important part of our motion, and I interpreted that to mean he does not intend to act on that part very soon. You will recall that the reason for the motion was because Cabinet was pursuing only the mineral, oil and gas functions. In the motion, the Ordinary Members asked that this thrust be expanded, recognizing that the federal government has more employees of concern to us than just those in a confined sector of one department, and hence, the motion. In doing my research this summer, I found that some 25 federal departments and agencies have employees that could potentially be considered for our relocation program. I learnt that literally hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars can be identified. I understand that a lot of relevant detail was contained in a comprehensive report published annually by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. The latest such report was issued about 24 months ago. Since then, DIAND has not updated this annual report. Why? Could it be that they recognize how useful this information is to us to identify the very positions we are talking about? It is also interesting to note that this summer, the Yukon Government had a person in Ottawa doing research into just this type of inventory report our motion asked be developed.
Our motion deserves to be acted upon. This is a constructive proposal for us to improve service delivery to northerners and to replenish our job losses, a golden opportunity. It should be an important component of our economic recovery program. Mr. Premier, I would request that you act on our motion. Thank you.
--Applause