Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I had spoken to this earlier around the work that's going on with the human resource service centres. I have to agree with much of what Ms. Lee has mentioned of the reasons why we want to do this; about the coordination, about staffing, the working together and the opportunities that would provide.
As I stated earlier, the first phase is about the mechanics of this, to make sure we set it up right to get the job done and done appropriately, and, as well, to make sure that we're meeting the timelines that we're supposed to meet. There are too many examples right now of how the system is not working. So we have been working; and as I stated earlier, we're into the organizational design and job description re-writes, in some cases, of some changes in the staffing side of it. There have been numerous communications -- through individual meetings, through meetings with managers, supervisors, newsletters, e-mails, direct visits from our human resource staff -- as we begin this process.
There are groups now working together to ensure that that information is going. So where we find ourselves today is that the meetings with departments, the identified positions with departments that are going to be moved
over to the human resource service centres, have been identified. They have been agreed to and we are now going down the next part of this road, in a sense, of the staffing and working with those who are affected. I think as we lay this out, it is moving along and is one of the better examples of what we've managed to do in the past, but it is not without some anxiety and concern by those directly affected. We realize that. We've been trying to work it through to ensure that those affected have opportunity to express their concerns, as well as to look at their direct abilities to see how they would fit into the new organization. Not everybody is going to slide parallel to where they are today into the new organization. Some may move up, some may have some added responsibilities, but there will be some changes. There have not been lay-off notices handed out to those who are affected by this amalgamation process.
Again, as we enter this process, it is one about making sure we get the job done right first, and then making sure that our policies fit with the organization and also meet the requirements that are set before us.
Once we have an operation up and running, then at some point we can look, in the future, back at this operation and ensure it is also operating efficiently. As a government, we're going to have to do that with every program. But the initial goal is to ensure that we get the mechanics done right and set up the policies to make sure we can deliver on what's required of us right now. We're looking at seven service centres -- Inuvik, Norman Wells, Fort Simpson, Rae, Hay River, Fort Smith and Yellowknife -- and authority transferring out to those service centres, as well. So we think that is definitely the way to go. As we look at our staffing process and procedures, again we recognize and realize that change is a difficult thing. Even if it's a good thing, it's difficult. But we're trying to work through those and trying to ensure that, for all staff affected, things will be handled in as positive a way as possible. Thank you.