Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure if I can top that. Mr. Speaker, I would speak also on behalf of the employees of the Territorial Treatment Centre who recently found out from the newspaper that they will be losing their jobs.
Mr. Speaker, as you can appreciate, jobs are about the most important thing for all of us, and it is never a good thing to find out that you will be losing your job down the road. To hear it from the newspaper is quite another story.
Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the department and the contractor who runs this centre are under negotiations and discussions to plan this. Having this sort of insensitive way in which this issue is being dealt with, I don't think is helping with the situation.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that in my time as an MLA I have had the opportunity to spend a good part of the day at this facility meeting with the staff, the administrator and the children who are housed in this centre.
Mr. Speaker, these young people come from all over the NWT. This is not a centre that treats mild to moderate behavioural problem children. This centre is a residential treatment program that looks after very difficult youth, Mr. Speaker. A lot of them are rooted in the community, they are housed in our schools, and they get very specialized services from our communities. Now with a stroke of decision of this government, they will be routed into another community as if they have no say, as if they are a completely transferable, non-feeling kind of people.
Mr. Speaker, we should be aware that 21 people, 15 of them full-time and six casual jobs will be lost as a result of this transfer. Mr. Speaker, the employees are asking why is it that the government decides to close a centre in another community, and just by a willy-nilly decision and as a balancing act or whatever it is, can just arbitrarily take 21 jobs and say we're just going to move them as if there are no families and real people involved behind these jobs.
Mr. Speaker, I understand we as a Legislature have to make tough decisions, but I don't think we should ever lose sight of the fact that we are talking about real people with real jobs, and we should really give consideration to what is involved. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that I am going to be...