I guess that is an issue we could look at. I know there is a capital site committee that looks at what happens out here that we would certainly have to consult with. We would also have to consult with all the Members before we

would make that drastic a change out there. But I think that is one area that could possibly be looked at. We just have to take the money to drain that area and fill it in properly and whatever we do out there. We certainly wouldn’t do it without full consultation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The officials level. That project went through with all the capital projects and was prioritized and didn’t make the list, because other ones took higher priority. So I guess that could be said. Now we have looked at a different approach to it, where we will be coming forward with money. It will be done at the Legislative Assembly. We’ll be putting forward a report, and it will not be reviewed by this committee. We’ll be going forward with that project in 2010–2011.

An interesting thing that she brings up is that dip out there. It’s one that we’ve had some engineers look at to see the best way we could work with that to try to improve the situation. As long as we want to maintain that natural habitat out there, I guess it’s’ going to be a problem to try to get a road in there that stays. I think that with the permafrost and everything in there, it’s bog, so there are different opinions as to what we could do to make that road more stable. As long as we leave that area out there the way it is, I suspect we will continue to have problems. Certainly, we’ll have to make it so that it stays driveable until we get the total reconstruction done. We’ve had a number of engineers look at it to see what the best way to do it is.

Yes, that is also part of the proposal that we’re going forward with. Along with the road reconstruction there are going to be an additional 21 parking stalls put on the north side of the road over here, and that’s all part of the same project. We have been working on that, looking at it for a number of years. There was at one point in the capital site talk about putting a courthouse in, and we were going to redesign our parking lot out there with some additional parking stalls. That hasn’t materialized, so we will now be going forward with 21 additional parking stalls when we do the road reconstruction.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The condition of the road out there is certainly one that is in dire need of attention and one that I’ve been really interested in trying to get something done with. As the Member has indicated, it is almost at the emergency stage. We have been trying to do something with that road. We have a mere $75,000 to try and do some upkeep or patchwork on the road in the parking lot.

We have put in a submission for a capital project to do the entire road out there. Our project was not accepted. Some other projects with higher priority were accepted. It was turned down at the authorities level. We have, since then, instructions from the Board of Management to really take this project seriously and to say that it has to be done. We are coming forward with a submission to do the complete drive out there in the ’09–10 or ’10–11 budget year as a capital project.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With me on my left is the director of corporate services, Olin Lovely, and to my right is the Clerk of the Assembly, Tim Mercer.

Yes, I would, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Again, these are details on the finances of staffing and the director’s position. I would ask Olin Lovely to walk you through the detail on those.

Mr. Chairman, it’s something we will look at. There’s no legislative requirement for them to resign if they do move right now, so maybe even to put a clause like that in there we may need some legislative change. It’s certainly something we can keep in mind, and wherever we can fill those positions with Northerners, it’s something we want to look at.

Mr. Chairman, I don’t know if there’s a way of making somebody commit when they’re looking at a four-year appointment. They show an interest in a position, and we appoint them for four years. I don’t know if we can make sure they’re going to be here for the four-year period. Sometimes if they make a move out of the Territories temporarily or for a short period of time, that’s grounds to revoke their appointment. Commissioners are statutory officers when appointed and become arm’s length from government, and we have found no reason to revoke her appointment. Also, the one we’re talking about has indicated that she is returning to the Territories to be a resident. However, that is something we will look at for sure and take into consideration in future appointments.