Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if an individual cannot do their job and their job requires them to attend a location that is federally regulated, then they -- then that -- there's not much that can be done about that. People have bona fide job requirements and job duties and if they have to attend a location regulated by the federal government and the federal government has put on a policy saying that they have to be vaccinated, that will apply to them as much as it applies to me.

The GNWT, unlike many jurisdictions, did not have a mandatory policy. Most -- many jurisdictions did. We've allowed -- in fact, specifically, I allowed and insisted that we ensure that there's the ability for testing, that we allow the ability for testing and PPE. But when the handful of individuals run up against a federal policy, there's not much I can do to change it.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly took a lot of criticism when we didn't have a mandatory policy because a great number of people in the Northwest Territories have been severely impacted by -- not -- by COVID-19 and all its variants, went out and did everything they could to protect themselves and at this point we are rolling that back, modifying the approach, and being responsive to this disease as we have been from day one, from the first instance, to try to be at the front end of what is happening. If the federal government makes a change to their rules, we will continue to adapt our rules accordingly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.