Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My understanding is that the Finance Minister will be dealing with that, and we will be responding at the appropriate time to committee on where we are at with additional GSOs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Premier for that answer. I am excited about these positions because they have a huge impact in my small communities, the ones that access it right now. I am hoping to see something here in the future. Can the Premier talk about the potential of something regional, not a GSO specifically, but if there is something that the department could be looking at for regional centres or the City of Yellowknife, not for this year, but for the future? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are certainly very pleased with the level of services that our government services officers currently provide. As the Member knows, one of the most important functions that the GSOs provide is the ability to speak the Indigenous languages of the community. Communications is an essential service when explaining the Government of the Northwest Territories' programs and services. Certainly, our commitment has been to increase the amount of GSOs until we fill all of the small communities with GSOs. I think we are very close to fulfilling that requirement. Certainly, we have been using existing resources to create GSOs. If additional resources become available, we will be prepared to hire more GSOs, although our capacity is very close to being reached.

As far as services to Yellowknife and to regional centres, I guess our view is we need to take a much more holistic approach. It involves more departments, and if we are to improve service delivery in Yellowknife or regional centres, we need to know what kind of improvements would be involved. Certainly, in Yellowknife, we've put a lot of effort and resources to moving more services online; this has proven very popular. So we are looking at undertaking I think we call it a citizen service initiative in which we will look at the whole area of service delivery. We think that the Service Canada model seems to be working quite well, and we have certainly looked at how we can improve the level of service and certainly, as I said, with the GSO service delivery, communication is very important because not everybody knows the whole host of programs and services that are delivered by our government. I think, through the Citizens' Services Initiative, we'll be able to determine what the best way is to move forward, including costing out some various options. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the Minister's answer. I appreciate them looking at this, and I think that will help all the residents. In regard to the GSOs and getting close to capacity, has the department developed a plan as to when we're going to be able to fill these positions? I know the Premier talked about it being based on the fact that it's funding-related and if there's money available. Can the department look at developing a plan so that we know when we can see these positions filled, so all communities have GSOs, and small communities have GSOs in them? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Certainly, as soon as this budget is approved, we'll have a more definitive plan recognizing that some communities are harder to fill, to staff GSOs than others; but certainly we will have a plan that will lay out where we would see GSOs being housed. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Premier for that answer. So in regard to GSOs, I know right now we have a pilot project with the federal government and for some of the communities. I guess: can the Premier talk about how well that is working, and is there a potential for it to be expanded into other communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Aumond.

Thank you, Mr. Aumond. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I thank Mr. Aumond for that answer. At this point in time, I think I'm satisfied with the questions I've been able to get answered here today, so that will be the end of it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few questions here under the GSOs, as well. As I've said numerous times, it's a big help to our small communities that have no resources, unlike regional centres, and people really appreciate that service. Moving forward, is there a possibility to cost-share with the federal government in the future to have that staff position full-time? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When we do a review of the pilot project we now have with Service Canada and, certainly, depending on the results, it would certainly depend on whether the federal government is prepared to expand the service. In my view, this pilot project certainly helps make those people that are entitled to programs and services. It helps them to make sure they can access everything they're entitled to. So that's certainly been a benefit; but we will be undertaking this review and we would certainly look at that consideration with the federal government, depending on the results. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Premier McLeod. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, as I mentioned, a lot of people make use of this service in the communities; but for our elderly folks, I think it's very important that a lot of our small communities have radio stations. I think it's really important that we have our GSOs go on the radio and just let the community know what their services are, because we're seeing in a couple of communities that it would be helpful if elders are reminded, even the community is reminded, what services the GSOs actually do. There are some people who aren't too sure what the GSOs are able to do. I just think we need to do a little more education on that part, and local radio stations are the best to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Premier McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We're certainly prepared to do that. We will find out which communities have radio stations, and I'm sure we can get our GSOs to go on the air and talk about some of the services that they can provide, and educate, and communicate the programs and services that are available to people. Thank you, Mr. Chair.