Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, colleagues. I would like to thank the honourable Member for North Slave for nominating me, and thank you to the other Members who put their names forward this morning.
Many of you will be wondering why, after stepping down from Cabinet last week, I would choose to run again for this vacant position. Mr. Chairman, I respected the report of the special committee and I resigned, and I believe that I have paid for my part in the unfortunate events that took place. Now today I would like to take this time allowed to attempt to share with you why this is something that I felt I had to do.
Mr. Chairman, when I was elected to Cabinet almost two years ago by the Members of this Legislature I had no preconceived notion of what portfolio I would be assigned. Premier Kakfwi met with each of us and informed us of the department we would be responsible for overseeing. When he said Health and Social Services I immediately knew it was right and this department encompassed many of the issues that I cared about very deeply.
Over the following months, along with many of you, I learned through briefings, question period, standing committees and through feedback and input from our constituents how important and vital these services were to the quality of life of Northerners. In the weeks and months that followed, a vision emerged of the enormous opportunity we had through program services and front line workers to effectively touch the lives and improve the well-being of northern residents.
I recognized that the challenges were immense. I gained an understanding of various components of the system, government and non-government, how they fit together and assisted in meeting the needs of our people. I realized the potential and opportunity we had to shape, define and direct the resources within the context of our fiscal capacity to most effectively serve our people.
This expanded to embrace the broader issue, the need for a social agenda, to be developed in concert with our economic agenda. This work was supported by the Cabinet and Members of this House, and it related to our vision of a better tomorrow. I was given the opportunity to chair, as Minister, the committee on the social agenda. We held our first conference and the work towards our social agenda in partnership with aboriginal governments continues as we speak.
The Department of Health and Social Services is complex and probably includes more initiatives, functions and services than any other department. I have invested two years in an intense learning curve. It is not a department which is sought after in any jurisdiction because of the stress which is on the system right across the country. When I attended the federal/provincial/territorial Health Ministers conference last year, I inadvertently left my identification tag in my hotel room. The meetings are heavily monitored by security. When I explained to the security guard that I was the Minister of Health and Social Services for the Northwest Territories, he agreed to let me in because he said "No one would admit to that if it were not true."
I admit that it has been challenging. I particularly enjoyed the Grandmothers Council, something new which had not been in place before and something that I thought of immediately upon taking this portfolio.
The grandmothers inspired me and helped me reaffirm certain philosophies which I believe we needed to incorporate. At our most recent meeting, one of the grandmothers shared a story that had been related to here by an elder. It was about a dream this elder had. In the dream, there was a river. Floating down the river were the bodies of people who had died. The efforts of the people on the shore were consumed with dealing with the bodies, removing them from the river and burying them. The people were so busy doing this that no one had time to go upstream and find out how the people were being swept into the river.
To me, this is a very powerful story because in our government, in the Department of Health and Social Services, we have traditionally expended most of our efforts in dealing with the tragic fallout of the lives being destroyed unnecessarily by preventable injuries and death. Lately, we focused more on trying to understand the root causes of high risk and destructive choices and early intervention.
I wanted to mention these things today because regardless of who is elected to Cabinet and who is assigned to Health and Social Services, it is extremely important to me that they understand and care very deeply for the pain that our people experience when there is no healing for their physical, emotional and spiritual sicknesses.
Being in Cabinet has taken me away from family, home and constituents and on balance, I have to admit that it has been a fairly high price to pay, but it is my family, constituents and other Northerners who have asked me today to put my name forward again.
If it were not for the people involved in this Ministry, and I mean Ministry in every sense of the word, from those who served to those who received the services, that sacrifice would not be worth it.
Someone told me a couple of weeks ago that politicians who get involved because they think they can make a difference must have a pretty large ego. In other words, why try? I think we try because we have to try. I want to take this opportunity to talk about a very key piece of government responsibility and a pillar of a compassionate society, ensuring adequate resources to help people when they are in a time of need and also to ensure that we have a Minister responsible who is passionate about that principle.
Everything in life does not always go the way we expect it to but as we get a little older and have a bit of history to look back at, we are able to put things in perspective. I am 45 years old next week, healthy with lots of energy and enthusiasm for whatever it is I choose to do. I have been blessed with a wonderful spouse for the past 25 years, three beautiful children -- and I know I am not objective about that -- a home that is filled with peace and sanctuary, and the financial means to live comfortably. In a country where the opportunity to do almost anything you want abounds, being blessed puts an onus on us to give something back. That is what I hope I have done through this rather unplanned foray into public service at this level.
I have also consistently experienced that when one door closes, another usually opens to something we might not have otherwise experienced. I sometimes have wondered after times of adversity why did we go through that experience but it is not usually too far down the road that we find it was for a significant purpose, to prepare us for something else. That is the wonderful thing about approaching life with open hands and an open heart and an open mind.
I believe that the prospects for the future of this territory and its people is bright. I have only been here 28 years and the more I learn about the land and the people the more amazed I am by them. I understand the aspirations of the people and that is important as we attempt to facilitate where we can as a government the realization of those dreams.
I support the agenda of our First Nations as we possess in the North, the unique opportunity in Canada to do things right and differently from anywhere it has been done in the past. It is our best efforts to that end that should guide us today as we choose a Member of Cabinet. We are a small group and I have purposely tried not to put people on the spot for support because it is a secret ballot. All of us can do what is best to our knowledge to choose a person who can lend their skills to achieving everything that we can for and on behalf of our people.
It is a privilege to serve in this Legislature and it will continue to be because every position is important. I want to thank the Regular Members for their warm reception that they have given me this past week. I have to admit with all due respect, that the Members on the other side of the House are just a little more fun than these. They are a little more outspoken, a little more direct.
