Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that's good there's more crews, more efficient crews. However, the process of eliminating positions, whether they be casuals or not, at some point there are two less jobs in communities where there are two crews and there's one less job in a community where there is one crew. We are going through an exercise here at this point where we are talking about some half-time positions in Yellowknife, as an example. Some part-time positions in various communities across the NWT. We've been talking lots about the employment rates in small communities. Above all, there's one thing we don't want to see in small communities is lose positions. What happens is if the government determines that a four-man crew are more efficient, then shouldn't it be incumbent upon the department to make sure that the leftover firefighter is placed in the community in a PY, or else there's an actual loss of a person year in that community, which I'm opposed to. I think all Members of the Assembly from small communities are opposed to.
We stand up in the House and we talk about the lack of employment in small communities, the low employment rates, the communities are having difficulties surviving without a lot of government subsidies. The government is prepared-- at this point more prepared to offer income support, social housing, and other subsidies for an individual-- for a person to stay at home and what we need is we need people to have jobs. With this type of move then this department has eliminated PYs. It doesn't matter that they only fill casuals in the last couple of years, that don't matter to me; the bottom line is we lost positions. If they want to add crews in some communities, fine, I have no issue with that. I certainly don't have an issue with them bringing back an old crew that used to exist in Tsiigehtchic that was taken away at some point and brought backm but what I'm opposed to and will not support, is that the positions being taken out of small communities. I will not support a budget that removes PYs from Fort Resolution, Lutselk'e, or Detah, or Ndilo. Thank you.