Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Member had offered comments on the need to balance the workload, which were the reasons for adding an additional Cabinet position, which is true. We appreciate that. It is true that as the Premier, I have retained the portfolio for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development. It is a big workload. In the previous Cabinet in which I served, I was responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development and Justice as well. The workload has not changed much. However, the support is stronger now and we appreciate that.
It is a four-year commitment, so Members will know that portfolio assignments will change from time to time as time allows. I think it has been the right decision as we have some new Ministers.
As I said earlier, there was very little time for new Ministers to get briefed on the operations and the mandates of the departments. We have had no time for them to absorb the details and grasp the issues that are before them in their respective portfolios. We took note from Mr. Miltenberger, when he served notice at the end of the last session, that all Ministers should be well prepared to answer all questions that come their way. In the course of this session, again, that was only a couple of weeks ago.
So we have this very hectic schedule that we are working with and I believe it has been well managed. We are working long hours as a Cabinet. It has been a very enjoyable experience to date. We are getting our work done. We are finding that we are able to meet the demands for work, as well as plan and prepare strategically for issues that we have to deal with. So far, as some of the Ministers have commented, we have done very well in our initial foray into engaging the federal government.
We talked about our issues and we are finding the future of the North. We have been very happy with that, and the workload will continue to be shared. Portfolios will be reassigned in the course of the very productive four years coming up. Thank you.
-- Applause