Mahsi, Mr. Picco. Next, in alphabetical order, is Mr. Steen and then Mrs. Thompson. Mr. Steen, you have 10 minutes.

Thank you, Mr. Steen. Next on my list is Mrs. Manitok Thompson followed by Mr. John Todd. Mrs. Thompson.

(Translation) I will speak in Inuktitut first and then I will speak in English later on. (Translation ends) Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

(Translation) I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would also like to thank the Member for lnuvik for nominating me for the Cabinet position. I would also like to thank God and the Inuit of Aivilik, who have supported me when I campaigned for the position of Member of the Legislative Assembly. (Translation ends)

I would like to share a little bit about my background with Members before I deal with some of the issues that will be priorities for me over the next four years. I was born in a tent and raised in Coral Harbour with my four sisters and three brothers. My parents, Mikitok and Tweenaq Bruce, held high expectations for all of us and felt strongly that their children be raised with strong Christian and family values. My parents also believed that it was important for us to understand and appreciate our culture. From them, I learned the importance of language and culture to a strong and healthy community.

During the time I grew up, the local school provided only formal educational opportunities. At that time, it was only possible to attend school up to grade 8 in Coral Harbour. To continue your high school education, students had to move to Yellowknife or Iqaluit. As you may appreciate, this was a very difficult decision for my parents to have to send their children away. While my parents believed strongly that education was important for their children, they were not in the position to send all of us to Yellowknife or Iqaluit. It was decided that my younger sister, Cathy Towtongie, would go to Yellowknife to finish high school and another educational path was developed for me.

Despite these different approaches we have both succeeded. I started classroom assistant training on the job and learned to read and write syllabics in one summer, taught by my mother at home. The next year I was hired as a full-time classroom assistant in Coral Harbour. After working at this job successfully for two years, I was accepted into the teacher education program in Iqaluit for the first year and then to Fort Smith when the entire program was relocated there. I graduated from this program in Saskatoon winning awards for academic achievement and teaching skills.

Upon graduation in 1977, I returned to Coral Harbour to begin my teaching career. I have been involved in the education field for most of my career since then. l have been a teacher, a classroom assistant consultant, an adult educator, a language consultant and an Inuktitut program specialist. For two years,

I was the coordinator for interpreting services at Stanton Yellowknife Hospital in Yellowknife.

There has been no shortage of challenges during that time. My experience included teaching, the development of curriculum programs and school TEPs and the support of Inuit cultural through recording andthe use of traditional knowledge.

Mr. Chairman, over the past several weeks, we have heard much about the economic situation facing the Northwest Territories. There can be no doubt after the briefing we had last week that we have difficult financial problems to deal with in the Northwest Territories. I am sure many Members who speak here today will speak in detail or have spoken in detail about our financial situation and some of the ideas they have to deal with these issues.

It will be critical to reduce our spending while maintaining a continued high level of public service. This will be a challenge, but we must live within our means. If I am elected as a Minister, I would ensure any departments under my responsibility fulfil this mandate. I would also speak about a few other issues that I believe are critical to the development of the North and to our long-term financial and economic health.

As Members can tell from my background, education is very important to me. I believe it is important that we develop an educated, mobile workforce to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in the North and to help our economy from within by building on the skills of the people in our communities. Elders have spoken to me and told me that it is important that our youth be given more employment opportunities and to learn new skills to enable them to start and operate small businesses, while at the same time continuing to learn about and respect their own culture. I strongly believe that it is possible for people to be not only bilingual, but bicultural as well.

While we have taken many steps to improve the education system in the Northwest Territories in attempts to increase our graduation rates and to get more of our students in post- secondary programs, much more work remains to be done. So when we talk about financial reductions, they must be considered in this context. I believe that while we must continue to improve education through the implementation of a strategic plan developed under Mr. Nerysoo's term as Minister, it is important that we continue to support our educational system to a financial level that will ensure our students continue to have every opportunity to compete for jobs no matter where they choose to reside.

It is also important that we realize the knowledge that we already have when educating our children. Our elders and the parents of our children have much to offer. We must find new ways to ensure they will become more active participants in the education process.

We must improve the adult education system in the North to build up many of the skills that already exist. The education system allows older people who may not have had the opportunity in the past to develop their skills and perhaps find new opportunities that were never open to them before. Mr. Chairman, education is vital to the long-term health of the

Northwest Territories. It is only through education that we can develop a workforce that can take advantage of the opportunities in the North and which division of the Territories will provide. Education is a priority for me .and I will be promoting education during the term of this Assembly.

As I said earlier, local control is an important issue to me. support the continued implementation of the community transfer initiative to ensure that programs can continue to be developed for the municipalities that want them. For us to be successful, we will need to ensure that people take responsibility for their own future. To do this, we have to start trusting the communities to make decisions that will work for them. The community transfer initiative is more than simply a transfer of person years and dollars from one level of government to another. It is people taking ownership of their own problems, issues and, more importantly, ownership and responsibility for finding creative solutions to these problems and issues. I have great confidence in the ability of the people in our communities to deliver on this important task.

Mr. Chairman, housing remains an issue of great concern in my riding and throughout the North. The problems caused by inadequate housing and overcrowded living conditions spill over into other aspects of our community. We are far behind in trying to deal with our housing problems and recent federal cutbacks are only making the situation worse.

Mr. Chairman, I would also like to say a few things about division. Nunavut has long been a goal of the people of the East and I am a strong supporter of the establishment of Nunavut. However, I also fully support the wishes of the people of the Western Arctic to develop their own unique territory that will represent their interests. Members can be assured that I will work hard to ensure that this Legislative Assembly is an important partner in the development of two strong territories. It should be the goal of this government to create two strong governments: one in the East and one in the West. This process must also ensure the values and the beliefs of our aboriginal people are well represented in each new government. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mrs. Thompson. We have one more speaker. Mr. Todd, you have 10 minutes.

Mr. Chairman, it says my time is up. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable colleagues. I would like to begin, if I may, by thanking my colleague, Mrs. Groenewegen, for her confidence in nominating me for this position. I also want to congratulate the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe on his election as Premier. I have every confidence that he will perform his new duties with the enthusiasm and the vigour his office requires and with a sense of fairness to all people in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Chairman, there are quite a few new faces in this Chamber since the 12th Assembly. I believe, as others have said, it bodes well for the next four years that we have such an enthusiastic and talented new group of MLAs.

For those of you who do not know me, I would like to give you a brief sketch of my background. I first came to the Territories at the age of 17 to work, like many of us, for the Hudson Bay. Although it just seems like yesterday, that was almost 30 years ago. There have been many great many, many great changes in the North in these years. And it's obvious from our discussions during the past week that there are a great many more changes to come.

During the past 30 years I've been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel and live in many parts of the NWT. For the past 20 to 25 years, my family and I have resided in Rankin Inlet where I was a businessman prior to formally entering politics as the MLA for Keewatin Central four years ago.

During the past four years as a Member of this Assembly I had the privilege of serving on and chairing a number of key committees, and in a variety of portfolios as a Minister in the previous government. Although I was not born here, I've spent all my working life in the Territories, raised my family here and it is my home.

I care passionately about the North and have a great deal of enthusiasm about working to build a better future for all of our people. That's the reason I ran for office and that's the reason I'm presenting myself today for your consideration.

I would like to share with you some thoughts on the way I approach political office, some of my fundamental beliefs and some of the priorities I believe this government must deal with over the next three and a half years.

I guess some people would describe me as an aggressive, type-A personality I'm told. I prefer to think that I'm passionate about the North, particularly about ensuring a healthy and prosperous future for all our people, both East and . West. I believe fundamentally that government must be open and accountable. Politics must be inclusive, not exclusive. It is only by involving people in the decision-making process by working together to identify our mutual problems can we begin to find solutions and explore alternative ways of doing government in the North.

I'm encouraged, as others have said, by the atmosphere of openness and cooperation that I have seen to date by all Members of the Legislative Assembly. This openness is apparent in the support for the new committee structure that involves all Members in the decision-making process, and in my view an important step in making our political structure more open and accountable.

I believe we must look for northern solutions to northern problems. This will mean doing things differently, taking a risk on occasion, but I've always believed that real accomplishments can only be achieved if you look beyond the status quo.

Mr. Chairman, I've always been a very accessible person. If I'm elected to Cabinet, my style will remain the same. I will remain open and accessible, not just in ensuring that I'm available to meet with Members of this House, but more importantly to discuss and incorporate their views into the decision-making process. What I cannot promise is that we will always agree, that is simply unrealistic. When we disagree, I

expect a good, healthy debate; that's our duty as Members. What I can promise is to listen to Members' views, remain open to new ideas and alternative ways of doing the business of government. I'm confident that through healthy debate in a spirit of compromise and cooperation, we can reach consensus on a great many of the issues.

Mr. Chairman, this is the type of approach and some of the beliefs that I will bring to Cabinet should I gain the support of this House.

I would like to speak briefly on the challenges we will face during the life of the 13th Assembly. Certainly the most pressing problem we face and one we've heard a great deal about during the past week is the fiscal difficulties facing this government during its term in office. The recent reduction in federal transfer payments have greatly reduced the revenues of this government and forced us to look at reducing our expenditures. At the same time, demands for essential services and programs are increasing dramatically in all our communities. It is clear that these competing demands to reduce expenditures andcontinue to provide essential services have placed atremendous financial strain on this government. Gone are the days when the federal government would simply foot the bill no matter the cost.

With responsible government comes the responsibility to manage our fiscal resources in a prudent manner. While the old adage that we must do government differently and certainly more effectively applies to the situation we currently find ourselves in, we must also find a balance on how we do government. We cannot implement dramatic spending cuts indiscriminately with no concern for the effects of these cuts on those in our communities who can afford it the least. While it's critical that we consider ways to do government differently by finding program efficiencies, reducing expenditures and eliminating waste, it is equally important that we expend the same amount of energy finding new revenues, repatriating money that we currently spend in the South, and creating new economic and employment opportunities for all northern people.

One of the most important and effective ways to deal with our problems, both fiscal and social, is through economic growth and job creations. The creation of a healthy economy is an important step in the creation of a healthy society. In short, I believe a healthy society is a working society.

Job creation and economic activity has to come from somewhere. For me, it begins with the development of our renewable resources and the non-renewable resource sector. Industries such as fishery, forestry and the harvest of country food provide important seasonal employment and economic opportunities in all our communities. More than that, the development and harvest of our renewable resource goes beyond mere economic benefits, but to the heart of our society. Northern people have always relied on the land and its animals for their survival, and it continues to play an integral part of our economy today. During the past several years, with the support of my colleagues, I've worked to design programs with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to promote the development of renewable resources. I'm committed to doing this.

While renewable resource isa key component to our economy, it's clear that in any objective analysis responsible development of our non-renewable resource sector remains our best hope for long-term economic growth in the Territories. The magnitude of our financial problem necessitates that we look to the non-renewable resource sector and the volume of dollars that it can generate. It is my view that we can only realize the economic benefits, both direct and indirect, from these developments through the negotiations of a northern accord with the federal government. These are northern resources and it's northerners who should benefit from them. For this reason, I've spent the last 18 months discussing this issue with aboriginal groups to develop a common northern position on the issue. Although these discussions as of yet have not succeeded, I remain convinced we can come to some agreement amongst all aboriginal groups and the NWT to move forward with a comprehensive proposal and transfer the responsibility to the Territories. I remain committed to reaching a common northern position on this issue and moving forward in negotiations with the federal government. The

non-renewable resources in the Northwest Territories belong to the people of the Northwest Territories and they should derive the economic benefits from them.

While I am a strong proponent of Nunavut, it's my view that we cannot look at Nunavut in isolation of the new territory to be established in the West. Division is simply not the creation of Nunavut. Division, in fact, is the creation of two new territories. In my view, the work of this Legislative Assembly should be focusing on establishing strong, healthy, financially sound new territories for both East andWest.

Mr. Chairman, my time is almost shot. I'm asking for the support of Members of this House for a Cabinet post. In return, I'll promise you hard work, accessibility, hopefully a little creativity -- but it occasionally gets me in trouble -- and, more importantly, some humour. Most importantly, I promise I will deal with the concerns of all people in the regions of the Territories with a sense of fairness and openness.

Before I finish, if I may, Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my friend, Mrs. Groenewegen, for nominating me for this House. On a personal note, 1 would like to thank Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove for the overwhelming confidence they showed in me in the recent election, and finally and perhaps most importantly, I would like to thank my wife. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Todd. All the candidates have made their 10-minute presentation and we will now proceed to voting for the candidates of your choice.

I would like to remind the Members that there are six Members from the West and seven Members from the East. Also, the ballots will be rejected if you have more than three Members selected from the West, or less. So it's three X's for the West and four X's for the East. My friend Henry Zoe is in the gallery, so I would like to recognize him as a former Member of the Assembly.

---Applause

I would also like to recognize Chief Joe Rabesca. Welcome to the Assembly.

---Applause

I would ask the Members now to cast your ballots. I have asked the kitchen staff to provide you with lunch. There is no lunch in the lounge, it is in the kitchen.

---Voting by Members on first ballot

The committee will come back to order. It is my duty to announce that there is a need for a second ballot, for the eastern seats on Cabinet. Those names appearing on the second ballot are Mr. Arlooktoo, Mr. Ng, Mr. Picco, Mr. Steen, Mrs. Thompson and Mr. Todd. There is no requirement for a second ballot for the western seat on Cabinet, as that has been concluded. According to our guidelines, the names of those elected will be announced when the balloting for the eastern seats has been finalized.

Before we proceed to the vote, are there any nominees wishing to withdraw at this time? There are no withdrawals. The ballots are then available. Again, it is four X's. Proceed.

---Voting by Members on second ballot

I would like to ask the Clerk if all the Members have had the opportunity to vote. I declare that the process is closed again. I will ask the Clerk to count the ballots.

---SHORT RECESS

The chair recognizes a quorum. There is no requirement for any further ballots. So I will read out the people who are now going to be serving you on the Executive Council: Mr. Arlooktoo, Mr. Ng, Mrs. Thompson and Mr. Todd. For the West: Mr. Antoine, Mr. Dent and Mr. Kakfwi. Congratulations.

---Applause

We still have one more item before we adjourn for the day and it is item 11, statements by Members. As you know, every Member is entitled to a five-minute statement. Do you wish to still proceed with that? Do you wish to take a break and then come back and deal with it? Or, do you want to conclude the process and call it a day? What is the wish of the committee? Can we just break for about five minutes to get some direction from the Members and congratulate each other?

-- SHORT RECESS

The chair recognizes a quorum. It has been agreed by the Members that we will adjourn for today. To remind the Members, tomorrow we will have a full Caucus meeting and it starts at 9:00 to deal with the process, as well as to start the selection process and nominating people to the Striking Committee. We don't have any interpreters?

For the benefit of Members who didn't hear me through translation, it has been agreed by the Members that we will adjourn for today. We will also allow Members to waive our rules, and the statements by Members can be made tomorrow in session. Full Caucus starts at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to deal with the process ahead of us, as well as select the Striking Committee Members who, in tum, assign Members to certain committees.

So this meeting of the Territorial Leadership Committee is now concluded. I thank you all. Have a good evening.

---Applause

---ADJOURNMENT