Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it is important to give a little bit of background or some history. The position of this government up until several months ago was that the Workers' Compensation Board should stay as one and, in fact, had supported the NIC Commission's recommendations a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, there is a difference of opinion out there as to keeping it as one and it would be fair to say that there has been a significant amount of political pressure being put to bear by all the stakeholders, both on labour's side and on the employer's side that we should look at the possibility of two new Workers' Compensation Boards, east and west. Therefore, with that position being fairly entrenched at this time, it was incumbent upon us and myself as the chair of the Division Secretariat, if you want, to work towards a transition plan that would allow an orderly way in which two new Workers' Compensation Boards could be set up, and also to ensure that, particularly on the asset and liability side, that there was a transparent fair and equitable process to deal with that.

Currently, Mr. Bargery who works for the Division Secretariat was working with all the parties involved trying to develop an appropriate process that would allow the transition to take place, and to determine an appropriate time schedule through a sort of phased approach. He is currently working on that. I am advised on the notes that the work is proceeding on a intergovernmental transition plan and draft legislation amendments. The target set for the first drafts will be this week apparently and we will have to move forward on the legislative amendments in December of 1998. The discussions are under way. They are trying to reach a reasonable compromise. I am confident we will get that. I would caution everybody that the transition plan will have to be phased. There is no set-up in the eastern Arctic to put a Workers' Compensation Board in place but that will get done. There will be a fair hands-off approach to assets and liabilities and that will probably be done through that asset and liability table which is a technical exercise, not a political one. I am confident at the end of the day we will be able to move forward and ensure there is no disruption in service to both workers and employers and that the costs will be kept to a minimum. Thank you.