Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, Mr. Speaker, this is a personnel matter. It is difficult to speak in detail of this. I would be more than glad to sit down with the Member, if he wishes, to let me explain to him the process we are going through.

What I would like to say is that we do have a process that we have been working with. I understand that our personnel people have been in touch with this individual to work things out. There is no reason on my part to disbelieve that we are not in a good process to proceed and have the individual come back into the position as quickly as possible. It would be my preference to do that as quickly as possible but we would like to use a mechanism that had been agreed to. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister why this individual could not come back into the workplace, carry out her duties and work out these problems that you say are there? Why is she not able to come back and carry out her duties as assistant deputy minister?

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, she will be back in her position within a short period of time. I think I have to respect the personnel situation here, Mr. Speaker, and I cannot publicly start getting into the process that has been worked out.

I think it is important to respect the privacy of the individual in this case. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Will the Minister commit to me and my colleague from Inuvik to have a meeting with your department and the parties at hand to talk this through and try and find a solution to this problem so that this person can come back to work sooner rather than later?

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

Well, certainly I will commit to initially meet with the Members to discuss this and then I have to take into account our usual process that we use for personnel matters. I will do my best here to try and do something in that area. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, do you have a protocol when you come to these types of issues? In a situation such as this, why is it taking such a long time? Do you have a mechanism in place that you can resolve issues within a short time frame so that an individual does not have to sit at home for almost four-and-a-half months?

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

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would consider having that as a criteria for what we are going to be requiring as we renegotiate this contract. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I have already written to the Social Programs committee to invite them, when we have time in March, to come down with us and do a tour. We are going to look at the facilities and assess those issues first-hand.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Nitah.

Thank you, Mr. Nitah. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.