Mahsi, Mr. Chairman. Or, as my colleagues from the East would say, qujannamiik, lksivautaaq. That means thank you, Mr. Chairman.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Mr. Chairman, for your acclamation as Speaker of this House. I'm sure you'll do a very good job, the same way you did the last time we were here. Mahsi.

For the discussion item that we're talking about, the number of seats on Cabinet, we had this discussion four years ago when we gathered here. At that time, I supported the ninth seat, but this time around I'm not supporting the ninth seat. The reasons for that were very well explained here in the House by a lot of the Members who spoke against it. First of all, there is the financial aspect of this position. We're hearing a large figure, from $300,000 a year up to $500,000 a year. The Clerk is going to be finding out the exact figure for us, I hope, but it's quite a substantial amount of financial resources that could be used in other areas of the North. For the people that we serve here today, we're providing programs and services in the communities. If we establish a ninth seat, I'm afraid that it will draw from the existing resources. Right now, we've been told by the former Minister of Finance that we're in a $100 million deficit bracket, and adding this to that deficit will make it even greater. So for the financial aspect, I will be speaking against position.

Just drawing back on the discussion the last time, four years ago, we had more departments four years ago. As a result, I supported a ninth seat at that time. But within the last four years, the last Legislative Assembly, the government has downsized, amalgamated and consolidated departments. Now we have fewer departments; therefore, we shouldn't need a ninth seat. I think the workload is there. In the last Legislative Assembly, some of our concerns were that some Ministers had more departments than others. This time around, if the Premier and new Cabinet were to distribute the portfolios in an equal way, the workload would be shared equally by all people on the Cabinet.

The stress of being an MLA is there. We are all here to represent the people in our communities, at an individual and community level. Being on Cabinet, the workload is there. I have seen how the former Cabinet Members and those who have made it back into this House have functioned. There is added stress in trying to do the workload as a Cabinet Member and trying to provide services to your own constituency; it is a balancing act. In the constituency that I represent, the people know that I am going for a Cabinet position and know the type of workload that may be there if I am successful. This is the same for all the other Members who are going for Cabinet. The workload is there and the stress will be there.

I just wanted to add that we are talking on this agenda item. It isn't a motion on the floor. I don't really support this ninth seat on the Cabinet. Therefore, I will not be making a motion. We should be speaking to a motion, if there is support for this ninth seat or if there is no support for this ninth seat. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.