I guess I continue to have some concerns in that area. I know we have requested that the department look at relocating that to a more northern location, a northern community where I personally feel that permafrost is a larger issue. I think it stems back to some of my comments earlier today about decentralization and positions. I understand that the department wants to look at a

group issue, grouping some of these positions together, but as individual MLAs we have to fight some of these battles on a one-on-one position at a time. I just know the department has justifications as to why they think the position should be allocated in Yellowknife and most of them are, in my personal opinion, excuses.

My question is: Has the department… I know the department has given us some information on the costs related to maybe positioning it into the higher north, but have they looked at all the locations where they could position this office, this position? Because I just am fighting with the point that these positions are going to headquarters or going into, I know it’s going through the geoscience office, which is in the North Slave office, which is still part of Yellowknife. The point that I’m trying to make is, the priority is to get the jobs out in the regions, and an area where we’re doing the Tuk to Inuvik highway is a major project and maybe an area where we definitely need that type of specialist in permafrost to look at some of the potential operating costs of that new road we’re looking at building. It makes sense to me that that position would be located closer to that type of project or somewhere up the Mackenzie Valley where we’re looking at developing a highway. I guess I’d just like to hear what the Minister has to say about that.