Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, locums are self-employed basically. They come here on short-term contracts, and they may come once, they may come on a schedule; there's no way to know. And on the employer end, they are used to fill gaps as necessary. So in some cases, we do see locums returning on a regular basis and, wherever possible, we encourage them to continue coming to the NWT to ensure that patient continuity that the Member was seeking of.
In addition, we maintain a locum talent pool list which is a list that we consult and call people from on an ongoing basis.
What we've seen from locums in recent months is that there's a lower uptake across all health care areas, and that's not just in the NWT; it's across the country as well. And so we're monitoring this and determining whether we need to increase our recruitment efforts not only of full-time staff but of locums as well. Thank you.