Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Members will remember that in the amalgamation of the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development from the previous three independent departments there was a considerable reduction in the budget. There was a total cut of something like $10 million, in fact, originally we were asked to cut $5 million, then we got an additional cut of $5 million after that. We reduced the number of staff that we had, mostly at the headquarters level, but what this resulted in is a smaller department with less resources to carry out the functions and the duties that we have set out.
Having said that, we have also continued to devolve and transfer the economic development officer positions from the regions to the communities, and from the community level of the department to specific agencies or organizations at the community level through community transfer initiatives. What we have is limited staff positions now within the department to carry out these economic development support functions, both at the Yellowknife level and also at the regional level. To look at transferring an existing position from the department to say, for instance, the Gwich'in Tribal Council at this time, is difficult to carry out. We have the Inuvialuit who would also be requiring such assistance, as well as a number of other organizations throughout the Northwest Territories, and we are unable to comply with such a request at this time. Thank you.