Thank you, Madam Chair. We were talking about a similar situation the other day with respect to Stanton and new facilities. When it comes to Hay River, when the building began construction the Hay River authority was tasked with figuring out how many positions would be required to properly run that facility. I think, as in most cases, there was the “I would love to have” list, the “absolutely need” list and the “I would like to have” list. The 32 was the dream list of adding programs, enhancing some services and doing some things slightly different. But given the mandate of the project, it wasn’t about expanding programs or adding new programs, so we were able to bring the list down a little bit as a result.
Then they provided a secondary list that included 21 positions, and some of these positions are absolutely required, but some of them need more justification and we won’t be able to justify that we actually need some of those positions until we actually get into the facility and run it for a while and can then clearly articulate the demand. Those positions were not supported through this process.
The positions that were identified, the 11 and a half additional positions plus and 3.15 relief, are essential to the operations of the new facility, given its size, the modification of how they’re providing programs. So, the 11.5 full time and the 3.15 relief are mandatory. The rest would have been nice to have, and given time, we may be able to justify that we actually need them, but we need to get into the facility first.