Mr. Chairman, I thank the Minister for that. I think it is only a matter of time before the aboriginal governments that are out there, and the ones that are going to settle land claims, begin drawing down their authorities and powers under the land claim agreements.
Any work the Government of the Northwest Territories can do at the onset, and that’s today…. If there’s some work already been done…. I think the more work we do in this regard, the better off we’ll be tomorrow in an effort to save us resources.
And that’s just the thing, Mr. Chairman: resources are scarce. In a territory the size of the Northwest Territories, with a population of 42,000 people, we can’t afford to duplicate efforts in looking after our people, whether it’s an aboriginal government or the GNWT. We need to be on the same page when it comes to delivering services for the people we represent.
I want to thank the Minister for his response and I certainly would…. I know I haven’t seen any of this type of work come through any committee I’ve been involved in, and I’d certainly like to see where that work is at. If the Minister could share some work with committee, I’d certainly like to see it.
The other question I have, before I wrap this up: I’d like to know if the government has any type of idea about how many unfunded positions there are government-wide. I think there were 26 just at Stanton alone. What is our strategy to deal with unfunded positions?