Thank you, Mr. Chair. This position, the registrar's position, has been operating on its own in Hay River for a number of years. It's actually supervised from Yellowknife, and supervising from a distance can work. Technology does support that, but there are also positions within Yellowknife that help to support the registration function, and connecting those supports to that position on a daily basis, given that all the files were in Hay River, was becoming more challenging, especially within an environment where we are seeing an increasingly higher number of teacher registration requirements.

Unfortunately, the challenges we have filling positions and with teacher turnover, the demands on this position have increased considerably. We are needing to use those additional supports which are within other positions here in Yellowknife.

As well, there is an increasing need to focus at a higher level on the teacher registration function. As people would be aware, this is a function that is fairly critical in terms of ensuring that individuals have the right qualifications and the right certifications and can pass criminal records checks. Doing the registration certification process in a timely way is critical to ensuring that we have qualified and effective teachers in classrooms, and that things aren't held up due to a high workload that can't be shared out effectively amongst other individuals. Thank you, Mr. Chair.