Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Recognizing that I lack a fair bit of experience compared to some of my colleagues, I have to say that I share some of their concerns. Since I have been elected to this position, and at some of the meetings we attended when we were in Fort Providence, we heard a very dismal picture of the situation this government is in and how we have to watch our steps in this coming Session for avoiding the debt wall, as we call it.
Every time we have had a briefing in all different areas of government, there seems to be an increase in positions. I think I have counted at least 13 positions now that are being created at the Executive level. I have some concern that someday we are going to find out that we are really heading down the road and we are going to have to make some hard decisions. I am a little concerned that it is going to come at the cost of youth programs and social programs that we have out there.
We all share the enthusiasm and we all want the Territories to go forward and prosper, myself as much as anyone else. We are really looking forward to some good news from Ottawa. We have heard they are excited, and that is good news. We have also heard they have expressed not commitments, but an interest in putting money into government. That could possibly come in the form of training programs or major infrastructure work as far as getting ready for pipelines. That may not do a lot for our budget. I do not know if the Premier has any idea how many positions are actually being established and how many positions this government can actually sustain without putting excess strain on our budget.