Thank you. I want to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on your recent nomination for the Speaker. I also want to thank Mr. Krutko and Mr. Pokiak for being nominated, and I thank Mr. Allen for nominating me and having the confidence in me to put my name forward.

I have given some thought to this, and last night I thought when opportunity knocks you go to the door and open it and see what's there. When I first got elected to this House, some Sahtu people asked if I would consider putting my name forward when I first came in November. They said that they wanted me to stay as a regular MLA because of the work they see going forward by the Sahtu people. Because of the events that happened, I talked to the Sahtu people again and the majority of them, close to 100 percent, said they should consider putting my name forward as a Cabinet Minister and it would be a good opportunity for me and for the people in the Sahtu region. So it's a real honour and privilege to be selected as a Cabinet Minister. Along with that privilege, there's a high degree of integrity of support and commitment from all the Members. I always looked at leadership as being some way that you are leading the people in the Northwest Territories. Leadership I take very strongly. I have worked many years in leadership. When I first got into politics, I didn't really know what leadership was all about. I understood there are different levels of leadership. I worked as chief in Tulita and with the leadership with the Metis and Sahtu Tribal Council. I had different roles throughout the years and I have gained a lot of experiences dealing with people. For me, it's having the confidence of people.

I want to say that I feel that I have the ability and skills to sit on the other side, should Members wish to go that way and to vote with confidence. I will do a good job if I were sitting on Cabinet.

I also have many experiences working with many different teams in the Northwest Territories. There are many issues. I was chief negotiator with the Sahtu land claim. I worked on issues of residential schools and with many different agencies and boards. I worked in the Sahtu region as a tribal chairperson and dealt with governments at both levels and the communities. It's really a relationship with policies and programs and trying to work with everyone you come into contact with. Being a people person is something I can bring forward to Cabinet in terms of having the people work with us in exciting times and also difficult times in terms of resources that we have, and also the amount of needs that people are asking from us as government to do to ensure that they have the quality of life they should have.

I see this government as a real leader in terms of having the uniqueness of consensus government. I think this will go a

long way and people can support us. Sometimes I see us as a light in the fog, like today. They know the light is there and it's a focus. We are in a unique situation because of the resources we have in the Northwest Territories and the unique process that we can work on with the federal government to keep some of our resources here to help our people. At the end of the day, when we look at it back home, how we are serving our people and how we are providing some level of comfort and satisfaction that they can support our government here, I think is a real key piece of support that the Cabinet needs from all our Members here that we can use to give a comfort level to our people.

If I am the successful candidate, I bring my commitment to the Cabinet. I have always done that in my life. Someone mentioned during the residential school work that if you fall down, you'll get back up. Make a commitment. The spirit that's inside makes my commitment strong. No matter what, you have to be committed. I look at that as our forefathers did. I think commitment to this place, whether as MLA or Cabinet Member, I will keep working strong and hard. That goes back to relationship building with all people in the Northwest Territories. That is key in terms of the success of our government. At the end of the day, if you have a process and programs to follow, it's the relationship with other people. Sometimes it's hard to tell people things; it's how you do it and how they look at you in terms of what you are doing to work with them. Empower people in the North to do the best they can. That's what I would like to bring to this level of government.

I am really honoured to be here because I was chosen by the Sahtu people to be here. At the end of the day, they have given me their permission to be here. I had asked the Sahtu people. I said that there was an opportunity here and I canvassed them. Like I said, the majority of them said to put my name forward and they would support me. I am really honoured to have the support of the Sahtu people.

Mr. Speaker, I want to mention the way I see Cabinet. The Cabinet, the Premier and the Members are my leaders at the end of the day. They are the government. You are my leaders. So far it's been really good to work with Cabinet. I have a lot of respect for all Members. Sometimes I question their decisions, but they make decisions as a group and they have discussions. Sometimes I think at night. Last night I went home and thought about my children. I thought about my little girl. We have families, too. Sometimes I don't think about that. As Members of Cabinet, I think you are a machine and we forget sometimes that we have families. For me, it gives me a different light. It has given me a chance to think about it. That's why I think people in the Northwest Territories, for myself anyway, have that perception. Members of Cabinet are also human, I should say. It's a learning process.

I am working in this field. I know that I am just learning the structure of the territorial government. However, I have been in politics for some time. I have made some tough decisions. As my honourable friend David Krutko said, he's also made some tough decisions in terms of being a leader. Sometimes you are not sure if that's the right decision, but I can attest that what is right for you and in terms of leading your people is by far something that can't be paid back.

For me, I would like to thank the Members for listening to me. I thank Mr. Allen again for nominating me. As a Cabinet Member, I think there are some opportunities for all of us to

look to, to work on and bring this government onto solid ground of leadership. Mahsi.