Thank you, Mr. Chair. We wanted to be reflective of the territories. We wanted three up in the North and three back in service Yellowknife and down in the southern part of the territories. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand being reflective of the territory. I guess I'm a little bit concerned that Beau-Del and the Sahtu are getting three. Yellowknife, Deh Cho, South Slave are only getting three, as well. Yellowknife could actually probably have one or two strictly by themselves. Can the Minister or the department explain why we haven't looked at what is collectively good for the territories and put one in each region? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a new initiative, and I think we have three positions that can travel throughout the northern part of the territory and three in the south. We also have other resources such as our career officers, client service officers, employment transition officers who do similar work in the regions and in the communities, as well as guidance counsellors in the school. We have a lot of tools right now that will help all of our regions in the Northwest Territories to help youth and young adults get on whether it's a career path or an education path. Moving forward, these positions will help promote some of the work that we're already getting within education role, our Skills 4 Success and getting information out on our labour market needs report. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for that answer. However, guidance counsellors' positions in my riding, and in Mr. Nadli's riding, are being taken out and we're bringing in the child and youth mental health workers. So we're taking those positions out of the schools because those are the ones that I guess I'm seeing the Minister and Deputy Minister is saying it's not true. Could they please explain to me, then, if those positions still exist in the Deh Cho? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. They're different positions. One, a guidance counsellor helps the students as well as helps in terms of helping the students get on a path to succeed as well as in post-secondary or a career. The positions that we were working within the Department of Health and Social Services are for mental health services. They're different positions; and the education authorities in terms of the guidance counsellors, what we fund them, they go out and get those positions for their respective schools. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister confirm that we have guidance counsellors positions in Fort Providence, Fort Liard, and Fort Simpson presently? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What I'd have to do is I'd have to contact the Deh Cho Education Authority to confirm if those positions are there, because we give them funding for positions, but I'll go to my DM for a little more clarity. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Deputy Minister Haener.

Thank you, Deputy Minister Haener. Mr. Thompson.

Okay, I realize I've only got two minutes and 30 seconds here, so I'm going to try to ask the question: are these positions to develop resources or are they positions that are going out travelling to work out from the communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. They're going to be both, really. They're going to be supporting our CDOs, getting out into the schools, into the communities to try to get our students in high school onto a right career path and support, have those extra supports. We do have some documents, the Skills 4 Success, labour market, needs assessment, and using those as part of the guiding tools that will help them do their jobs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Mr. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess this still concerns me, that we're expecting three to support Yellowknife, Sahtu, and Deh Cho, which is probably about two thirds of the school population in that area, and then we have three in the North. It does concern me there, but I guess it comes down to the simple fact that we need these positions and in the regions. I still have not bought into these teams of three. We're going to have costs. We're going to have more costs to get from here to the South Slave, from here to the Deh Cho. You know, there's going to be cost to it; and the Tlicho; I forgot all about that, and I apologize. There are going to be costs to get these people out there. If we have them in the regions, it's closer to the clients and they're going to know the people there.

I support the concept of having these positions, but I do not support the fact that we're having three North and three South. Will the Minister look at this and come back to us on this? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Minister Moses, to the question.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a new initiative. It's better than what we have right now. I wouldn't say better, but it's going to help complement the work that's going on right now across the Northwest Territories. It adds resources into the regions. There would be travelling. It's a new initiative. We're going to have to monitor this, and right now I'm not looking at putting one into each region. We'll do three in the North and up out of Inuvik and three here out of Yellowknife who will travel into the communities and work with our CDOs and work with the other resources that we currently have throughout the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister Moses. Ms. Green.