Thank you, Madam Speaker. This Assembly, at the beginning of it, set some priorities to increase employment opportunities where they are needed most, by decentralizing more GNWT positions.

Last year’s government budget indicated that they were going to do more for decentralization and set it as a priority. We did do some decentralization and I thought we were on the right track to making this an effective way of getting jobs out into the communities.

This year during the budget, though, very little was indicated on what we’re going to do in the future. We talked about the 18 positions we did last year; we talked about the 52 positions from devolution. Where we know wasn’t a decentralization, there are more jobs going into Yellowknife than anywhere else. It’s actually anti-decentralization, and I know we’re being controlled by the federal government on that.

The government is looking at putting capacity into the communities. They say that’s why we’re not decentralizing right now. We’re doing office surveys; we’re putting houses into the communities,

but that’s being done over three years. In three years that will be the 18th Assembly, not this one,

not this one that set the priority to put those jobs out in those communities.

Today I’m going to have questions for the Premier on what is our big plan. We are talking about putting houses into communities; we’re talking about doing office space surveys, but where? What specific communities are we looking at? What are the examples? Are we putting three houses into Fort Res because we’re going to put three new positions there? Are we going to lease 10,000 square feet in Hay River because we’re going to move Transportation back into Hay River and make it a centralization in Hay River?

I’m going to be asking the Premier about what’s our big plan for decentralization. Thank you, Madam Speaker.