(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