One of the reasons I ask that question is because we have gone to a four-year degree program with our northern nursing students now and one of the concerns that I’ve heard is that there aren’t the jobs, the jobs aren’t posted. Even though we’ve got locums and we’re relying on agency nurses, the jobs aren’t being posted. They’re not out there. For new grads coming into the work scene, it’s a pretty scary sight when you’re graduating from a four-year Northern Nursing Program and there are no jobs to be had on paper. Then you see all these locum nurses and agency nurses working in the Northwest Territories. If I was a student, I’d be asking some questions, too, about what the government’s priorities are. Are they with the locum nurses or are they with our graduating northern nursing students? I think they should be with the northern nursing students.
I’d like to ask the Minister how the department is going to take the northern nursing grads and integrate them into this system. Are we going to make every effort to decline the amount of reliance there is on agency nurses in the Northwest Territories and how are we going to do that?