Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not saying 20 jobs because of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline. I'm not saying 28 jobs, as the Member indicated in her statement. It's 23 additional jobs. We've got a heated economy. We had to do something about our mandates in terms of economic development and environmental stewardship. These are critical priorities of this government. They have been well discussed and debated, as our Legislature set out to create the strategic plan. Certainly that's where I was taking my direction, Mr. Speaker.
I want to also indicate that of those 23 jobs, one additional position is not because of the split. It's a position in Hay River to help the south-of-the-lake region better handle some of the increased tourism traffic we're expecting. Also, three of the positions are energy policy positions that didn't exist before the split, because we feel we have a void or a vacuum in terms of a macro-energy policy on the part of this government. So those are the numbers.
In terms of other priorities and our limited resources, I would certainly acknowledge that there are other priorities. We do have limited resources. That's the environment we operate in. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.