Yes, Madam Chair, I think it is important too because, as my honourable colleague and others have said on a frequent basis they talk about the elimination of these jobs. I do not see it that way at all. I see it as an opportunity for new careers. Not necessarily in Yellowknife, but somewhere else. I think there is a difference and I think it is important to say that. Now, I do recognize, of course, that people put a lot of time into this part of the country, into Yellowknife and they may not wish to go. I do not see it as an elimination of jobs, I see it as a transfer of PYs into the eastern Arctic based upon the agreement that was reached with respect to division. Currently, my understanding is that the Interim Commissioner and partners are in the final days of recruiting the deputy ministers required for the ten departments and, of course, the secretary to the Clerk of the Council. I am assuming that Mr. Anawak, I believe, in his meetings this week, I think as we speak - I believe he is here today as we recognized him in the House - that Mr. Anawak's office along with all the parties, including ourselves, are working towards the next stage and the next step, moving some of the essential PYs and bodies that are necessary to get the government up and running. Mr. Arlooktoo, in the recent meeting in Iqaluit, I think, had agreement by all parties for it to be a seamless approach. In other words, there would be a transfer if the employees so wish.

So, I would think with the recruitment of the senior deputies that we will see a significant amount of movement, if you want, in terms of what are the resources required to run these departments in the coming weeks. I do not know whether that answers it or not, but I hope it does. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I was not at the Iqaluit meeting, that is why I was consulting with my honourable colleague and Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo. It is certainly the intention of this government to bring, as quickly as possible, some clarity and stability to the division process. I fully recognize the concerns raised by my honourable colleague, Mr. Ootes. I am advised by Mr. Arlooktoo the hope is we will have some clarity for the jobs, timing, et cetera by March 15th, which is approximately five or six weeks away. I would suggest that we would then be in intense discussions with our staff to show them the new opportunities and to work closely with the staff in making sure there is as minimal disruption as possible, et cetera. I am optimistic that by March 15th and if that does occur, of course, we will be sharing that information with all Members of the House and in particular the Members that are clearly affected from the headquarters in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the 1998-99 Main Estimates for the Department of Executive.

The Department's 1998-1999 O and M budget is $10,326,000, which is a decrease of $189,000 from last year. The funding is allocated among the department's four activities as follows:

1. The Commissioner's office activity is budgeted for two positions and $226,000.

2. The Ministers' offices activity is budgeted for 23 positions (not including the Premier and seven Ministers) and $4,011,000. This includes the offices of the

- Premier,

- seven Ministers,

- principal secretary,

- press secretary, and

- Women's Advisory program, which includes $588,000 for grants and contributions.

3. The Cabinet Secretariat activity is budgeted for 47 positions and $5,607,000. The Secretariat includes:

- secretariat management,

- official languages unit,

- personnel secretariat,

- division review secretariat,

- intergovernmental affairs,

- corporate services division, and

- legislation and house planning.

4. The Public Utilities Board is budgeted for two positions and $482,000.

The department's 1998-99 budget is little changed from the previous year. Funding for the Commissioner's office and for the Public Utilities Board has not changed at all. Funding for Ministers' offices has increased slightly by $365,000. This increase will cover the costs for the Western Premiers' Conference, our enhanced communications effort, and additional grants and contributions and conference funding for the Women's Advisory. The increase in the Ministers' offices has been offset by a reduction in fund for the Cabinet Secretariat.

Madam Chair, while the budget may remain relatively static for 1998-99, that cannot be said for the activities we anticipate for the department. Two areas in particular deserve singling out. The first, of course, is the creation of two territories, where our efforts will become much more concentrated as we prepare for the actual hand over of responsibilities to the new territories. While those preparations have been very much the focus of the Division Secretariat in the past few years, the immediacy of the change will serve to concentrate our attention on it even more. The second area is in intergovernmental relations, where we have seen significant progress in the past year. We are beginning to benefit from our new and strengthened relationships with other governments and with the federal government. Our contact with the western provinces in particular has been helpful. I anticipate being able to build on the sound foundation of intergovernmental relations developed to date, and believe that doing so will be essential as we move to two territories. Indeed, my recent trip as part of Team Canada has reinforced for me just how important intergovernmental relations are and this will continue to be an important focus for the department in 1998-99.

Madam Chair, there are two areas where I anticipate change in the budget for the year 1998-99. The first relates to the functions of the official languages unit. These functions are being transferred from the Department of the Executive to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. This change is not reflected in the main estimates, but will be included in the forthcoming supplementary budgets. The second relates to the Personnel Secretariat. As you are aware, the Personnel Secretariat was scaled back considerably when the responsibility for staffing was transferred to departments. The Personnel Secretariat retained responsibility for developing staffing guidelines, for training staffing practitioners in departments and for monitoring staffing actions across the government. The transfer of the staffing function is complete and departments now have human resource staff who are trained in the staffing function. I am, therefore, re-examining the functions of the Personnel Secretariat, as well as other human resource functions, to determine what changes may be needed. I hope to have the results of this review within the next two months.

Madam Chair, we have already accomplished a lot in this budget year with the resources that were appropriated for us. The budget before you will give us the resources that we need to continue our work for the next year. Thank you. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Madam Chairperson, under the Executive there were, as noted by the Minister, certain expenditures. I would like to just address at this time one concern that we have at our tabled report concerning the Executive and the Personnel Secretariat. The Premier advised us that his department is re-examining the functions of the Personnel Secretariat. He indicated that it may be too soon to know what, if any, changes may have yet to be made. If further reorganization is required, it will likely have an impact on the budget for 1998-99. The committee noted that there appears to be more human resource personnel in government than there were in the centralized Department of Personnel. The committee requests an analysis of the potential efficiencies and economies of scale realized by the current decentralized service delivery model.

I am aware, Madam Chairperson, that the Government Operations Committee, after our committee, raised a concern with Personnel. Mr. Erasmus, the chairman of that committee, will be bringing forward a motion at the appropriate time to deal with some of these concerns. That is the Standing Committee on Infrastructure's report on the Executive during the Report on the Review of the 1998-99 Main Estimates. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Yes.

Agreed.