Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, apparently, SNAs that work in our education system right now belong to the Union of Northern Workers and not to the teachers union. I was wondering if the Minister could tell us why that is?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the members of the NWTTA instructional staff are members of the teachers union, and only those members.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, another area that has been brought to my attention is the hiring policy for teachers in the North. It appears that if a teacher comes to the North and works in the community in the teaching system for one year, they get bumped up in the priority hiring as...I cannot remember the name of it or the exact number, but they actually go ahead of some long-term Northerners we have living in the North who are qualified teachers. I was wondering why that policy is in place, that after one year, they jump ahead of some long time Northerners who we have working as teachers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I would have to know the specifics of cases in order to address that particular question. I just do not have a ready answer for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Ootes. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is apparent that come this fall, we are going to need some teachers. I know in Hay River there is talk of a number of positions being vacant. I was wondering if the Minister could inform the House as to how the recruitment drive went across Canada, and how it looks for the fall for teachers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our priority is to hire Northerners. There was coordination between the department and the DECs throughout the Territories, as well as the Yellowknife DEAs. They did a number of locations to do a recruitment drive. I believe there were seven in total.

From my understanding, there was a general good response to the recruitment drive. A number of applications have already been received. It was generally felt from those who were on the recruitment drive that this was a very successful approach to have combined. It was the first time that the various DECs and Yellowknife DEAs combined together to do one recruitment drive rather than individual approaches. I believe from the perspective of the individuals who have gone on to it, there was a good satisfaction with that approach.

Additionally, they have spoken with the Aurora College instructors and individuals. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are addressed to the Deputy Premier regarding the transfer of federal government positions from Ottawa to the Northwest Territories. This was an issue of great interest in the 13th Assembly. The federal government, as it is an expert in doing, dragged its feet through two long, laborious studies and ended up saying the employees did not want to move, so they are not going to make them come north.

I would just like to ask the Minister now that the election is over and there is a new government in Ottawa, what is the territorial government doing to in fact put this issue back on the agenda, so hopefully during the life of this Assembly, we can look at having those positions moved to the Northwest Territories, and not all of them in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Deputy Premier, Madam Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that the last time Minister Nault was here in Yellowknife, Cabinet had a chance to meet with him. This subject was raised. We received a generally positive response to the issue of jobs being transferred from Ottawa. However, Mr. Speaker, most of the jobs and the different areas that would be transferred north do fall within the Minister of RWED's jurisdiction, so am I going to use my prerogative as Deputy Premier to refer that question to Mr. Handley. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Groenewegen. The reply has been transferred over to the honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, this is also an issue that was raised with the Minister of DIAND when we met with him at the end of January. He has continually assured us that as the federal government determines what its needs are in terms of human resource capacity, that he would move those positions north. When we met with him in January, he confirmed that is still his intention. Some of the positions will be DIAND positions, some will be with other federal departments. For example, it could be within NRCAN, Natural Resources Canada, or it could be with environment or with industry. He did say he would have to speak with his colleagues on the federal Cabinet to determine whether all or some or how many would come north. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is nice to hear these general positive noises, but the question to the Minister is are we going to be put through another two or three federal studies as they review this issue all over again before they make a decision? Or that they tell us at the end of the day that it is not on for this Assembly either? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot confirm how quickly the federal government will be able to turn this around. I know they are working on a submission for the federal Cabinet. The Minister of DIAND has confirmed that. Hopefully, we will see both a confirmation of what the federal capacity would have to be in this area. Second would also be some commitment from them in terms of training Northerners to fill those positions. We are continuing to talk. I do not know. I really cannot say if it will be a month, two months or five months or two years. I do not know.

Thank you, Minister Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the strong concerns by those of us who live outside of Yellowknife is that any move of positions to the North should not be automatically placed in Yellowknife. In my constituency, for example, with the relocation of the fire centre, there is going to be a tremendous amount of prime office space for the federal government. I would like a commitment from the Minister, from the Deputy Premier, that when they look at bringing these positions north, they will look at moving them around and out into the other larger communities where there is office space and where they can still do the jobs with the technologies of the day that are available to them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Mr. Handley.