Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Special Committee on Conflict Process presented recommendations. The fourth recommendation was voted on by all Members of this House, that I take immediate measures to restore the confidence of the public in the office of the Premier and the Cabinet. I have asked staff to prepare some preliminary organizational plans.

The next morning, Thursday, we started the work. Today was the first occasion I had the opportunity to discuss this with Cabinet. This morning, Cabinet approved a move to reorganize the senior staff around the Cabinet, such as the principal secretary, and it included a decision to eliminate the position of chief of staff.

That will happen in the next few days. Ms. Sorensen will be offered a position to work as my personal assistant once the reorganizational plan has been put in place and implemented.

Unfortunately, there was no access to the Members who were busy with their own business this morning so I could not get the opportunity to bring it directly to the Members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the position of chief of staff was created not long ago, just after this government came into place. It was a bit of a controversy. The Premier fought very hard for the position, citing how important it would be to the operation of the public. Can he explain how the functions of that office are now going to be fulfilled? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. May I ask which office we are speaking of? The Chair did not quite understand what the question was. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize for not being totally clear. A year and a half ago, the Premier fought very hard for the establishment of the office of chief of staff. Now the office itself is being eliminated, if I heard his answer to my previous question correctly. My question is, who or what office will be performing the functions that were performed by the office of the chief of staff?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week I have, in different forums, indicated to the Members that I was prepared to make changes. I asked for time to deal with this in some form that would bring dignity and confidence to my office and to have that provided to the staff. Members know there has been tremendous pressure and duress on the staff involved. Mr. John Bayly has resigned as of last week. We have had no time to put an organizational plan together.

The chief of staff position, as I said, will be eliminated. Ms. Sorensen will be reassigned if she accepts the offer. Cabinet is going to make the decision to do the reorganizing. I have brought this to Cabinet and Cabinet will look at ways to reorganize and realign the offices. For the present time, Ms. Sorensen will continue to provide the service she is providing to us.

There is no principal secretary at this time, as Members know, and I need, and Cabinet needs, some staff to provide us the service we need. That will be provided over the next week. There is literally no information other than that available, Mr. Speaker. Members have asked for immediate action. We are trying to indicate the degree to which we are willing to comply. It does expose the fact that this is happening far more quickly than I would have liked.

I would have liked to take time, as I said, to deal with it with some dignity and have a transition plan. However, because Members have asked for some indication, we made the announcement this morning. Cabinet will review the options available to it in the next week and we will be keeping the Members informed.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to confirm, I believe I heard the Premier a couple of times in his response mention the time frame of a week. Is that the expected time frame in which the Premier expects things to be resolved?

Thank you, Mr. Dent. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Mr. Speaker, I have used a week because this is what Cabinet thought, at the very minimum, we would require. We wanted to make some announcements because Members want to know how much change is being contemplated. I think Members are well aware now of the degree to which we are moving to comply with the motion that we voted on together last week. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Final supplementary -- no supplementary? Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have followed up the questions with meetings with the deputy ministers. We discussed the priority situations for Highway No. 3 and Highway No. 4. There was not very much direction required for me as a Minister to the department because Highway No. 3 is still a high priority highway versus Highway No. 4.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I will do that. I will follow that up.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I will go to the full action of writing the directions to the department. I believe that we have a policy in government that we allow our managers to manage. I believe that it is presumed the department will be following up with the letters that are necessary to the staff and copying me with these letters. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. No further supplementary? Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.