A moment ago on the record, the Minister told me to just do the math, you can figure it out. Now he’s telling me it’s impossible to calculate. Which is it and what can the department provide? Thank you.

Mr. Hawkins, I believe that question has been asked and answered. Do you have another question?

Well, the Minister just told me I can do the math. Now he’s telling me it’s impossible to calculate and he can’t calculate that value, so I’m trying to understand. How much of this is in resource value, in the sense of dollars and, perhaps, what’s the average vacancy of the Department of Justice? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When I mentioned that earlier, that was a ballpark number. If you have 20 or 22 vacant positions, you could arrive at a number, but that’s not going to be the number you have to go with because it’s always changing and evolving. On an annual basis the vacancy rate at the Department of Justice is roughly 9 percent. We continue to fill positions to the best of our ability day in and day out, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Hawkins, your time has expired. Just let me know if you want to get back on the list. Committee, we’re on 9-10, Justice, information item, active position summary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In terms of relief positions, there doesn’t seem to be a protocol for reporting those and I don’t even know if they’re part-time positions or seasonal. If we have seasonal, they’re not here.

Is there any way of bringing transparency in reporting? Is that something the Minister could look into and report back to the House at some point to see what would be an appropriate way to bring some transparency to that?

I realize the dollars are in the budget, so I think the transparency is there, we ask the appropriate questions, but it might be useful just to make it transparent from the start. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is something that we could look into. Given the nature of the facilities that we operate, the corrections facilities that we operate, the requirement for relief workers is there. That’s something that is real for us.

In terms of reporting it, that’s something I will talk to the officials about and we’ll see if there’s a better way to report that and show that relief worker number. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister for the commitment. The second question is: I understand there’s a legal translator position that will be deactivated. I believe that’s a funded position. I’m wondering what happens to those dollars. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. We’ll go to Ms. Haener for that.

Thank you, Ms. Haener. Moving on with questions on page 9-10, I have Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister said there was an average, if I understood it correctly, vacancy of 9 percent for the Department of Justice. For the folks at home and certainly for the Members, specific to the Department of Justice, what would that add up to?

Mr. Hawkins, I will get you just to add the disclaimer at the end of your question. Mr. Hawkins.

The 9 percent I am referring to specifically, what would that add up to in dollar value? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, 10 percent of the 475 positions that we have times the fully encumbered cost of those positions would give you that figure. Thank you.

What is the fully encumbered cost or the average the department is using? Again, I can’t use committee documentation that the Minister keeps referring to here because it was given in camera. It makes it difficult when he keeps saying it was given to us, but we can’t reference it specifically. That is why I’m asking what is the average cost used for the fully encumbered cost per position as he’s highlighting. Thank you.

The full compensation and benefits paid to GNWT employees on an annual basis divided by the number of employees would give you that calculation. Thank you.

Not all employees are created equally and there’s an average being used. I mean, a deputy minister’s salary is much different than a clerk’s salary and certainly a correctional officer’s salary is different than, say, a director’s salary, so it’s difficult to know what reference he’s using or not wanting to ask. Is there a reason why he doesn’t want to assist with the clarification of this number?

The Member asked for an average, so I was trying my best to give him an average.

What would the dollar value be of that particular average? Could the Minister put it on the record?

It would be under $6 million.