Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to properly acknowledge the hard work being done by Senior Administrative Officers or SAOs, and especially those in my communities of Broughton Island, Clyde River and Pangnirtung. They function as best as they can with a minimal amount of qualified support staff. Mr. Speaker, with limited resources, they get the job done.

For those of you who may not know what SAOs do, let me briefly describe their responsibilities for you. All municipal officers and politicians, like ourselves, are responsible to the residents and to the GNWT for delivering and administering programs locally. The SAO is the key person in municipal management. He or she provides and coordinates the administrative, financial and management services for the municipality.

In many of the more remote communities, the SAO is responsible for all of these important functions. Most northern communities are very small and it is very difficult to find enough staff locally who are qualified to help the SAO to complete financial or managerial duties. It is sometimes more difficult to get people to come to the communities to take over those positions. Many times the SAOs have to rely on the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs regional or headquarters staff to help him or her fulfil their responsibilities. In most cases, the SAO will complete all required duties themselves with very little support. As a result, they do not have enough time to spend with their families or time to properly rest. The shortage of support staff available to help the SAO at the regional and headquarters levels makes the task even more difficult.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that the job of the SAO is very stressful and I wish to once again acknowledge their hard work. Thank you.