Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's not so much that there was a hiring freeze, but the program that is administered by the Department of Finance certainly did put a hold on new offers to students. Any offers that were in place, those ones have been honoured, and those students have been employed. The reality was, Mr. Speaker, that bringing on several hundred potentially new employees at a time when our own employees are struggling to adapt to the current conditions and now are having to be asked to find a way to slowly return back to their workplaces, this is not a time to be bringing on a large group of new students. It's not only about supporting them financially. We want to ensure that, when they are coming to work as summer students and interns for the GNWT, they are getting a meaningful and positive experience. Right now, Mr. Speaker, the priority has to be on ensuring the safety and well-being of all of our own staff, ensuring the safety and well-being of the people who we serve, and it's not a time, unfortunately, when we can bring on a large number of students.

That said, if there are departments, boards, and agencies who have the capacity to hire a student and want to hire a student, they can come to the Department of Finance and indicate that. There's not a set freeze, per se. If there is a match that can be made, then the student can still be hired. It's just that, at this point, as far as a formal program, this isn't the time. There is also the casual pool and, to the extent that students want to apply to the casual pool, there certainly are positions available, frankly, as a result of COVID, that can be filled from that pool. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.