Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect. First of all I would like to congratulate our Premier-elect, Mr. Bob McLeod, and congratulate yourself on your election as Speaker. I am confident you will lead and represent this institution with the respect and dignity it deserves.

Members of the 18^th Legislative Assembly, I stand before you to put my name forward for your consideration as a member of the Executive of the 18^th Legislative Assembly.

I treat people how I expect to be treated, maintain an open and transparent relationship with MLAs and Ministers, committees, Aboriginal governments, federal Ministers and non-government organizations. I am straightforward and honest and come from the old school of ripping the band-aid off as opposed to doing it slowly. I believe in fairness and the equitable application of government policy and programs. I do not believe in special deals; and if there is something wrong with a government policy or it does not address an issue, we need to look at that policy. Many times Members of committees have identified flaws in government policies under departments I had responsibility for. Where it made sense, I directed the department to develop options and work through the committee process to effect change. I believe in the committee process. It adds value to the work of the government and ensures the insights and different perspectives of MLAs in regions and communities and their constituents are included in the discussions.

I believe our committee system allows for the development of the best possible policies and legislation because we work together, and I want to assure you all that this is a priority of mine.

I also believe in being open with Members and their research staff. Since I became Minister, I have directed departments to provide the research department with the same briefing material that I am provided for business plans and main estimates, with the exception of notes containing personal information. I know this was useful for staff and Members and made for better discussions when I was a Regular Member.

It is very important to keep committees in the loop on emerging issues. Where practical, I have appeared before committees to brief them and seek advice, or have sent correspondence to committee chairs, seeking input and outlining what the issue is and the proposed steps that are being taken. I maintain that is very disrespectful of the role MLAs are expected to have in consensus government, if they are finding out about government decisions in the media.

I have an open door policy and welcome your input and advice. I may not always take it, but I will tell you why I won't take it.

I believe I have a good track record as a Minister. Sometimes hard choices have to be made, and I believe we have to focus on the end result and what the consequences for the residents will be in making these hard decisions.

In conjunction with standing committee, I was successful in transferring responsibility for rent tax calculation back from ECE to the Housing Corporation. We heard a lot that the involvement of two government departments in the delivery of social housing was confusing to clients and, while well intentioned, caused more problems than it was supposed to solve.

I am grateful to the MLAs from the 16^th and 17^th Assemblies who had the political courage to affect change. This was a whole change in the housing culture for the NWT. If you did not pay your rent or your mortgage, there were now consequences. It was hard on MLAs and housing staff as those who chose to ignore their last chance to stay in their homes were evicted or foreclosed on. But it was these hard times that set the stage for us to lower the maximum rental rates for public housing from 30 percent of a family's income to no more than 19 percent. This, combined with the graduated rental scale, effectively removed the disincentive to work.

This also allowed us to retool the Mortgage Program so those clients who faithfully paid their mortgages saw their mortgages either paid out or greatly reduced and gave those mortgage clients with less than stellar repayment records the opportunity to remortgage and enter into an affordable repayment plan.

I have no issue in stating that the number of housing complaints that MLAs in my office were getting at the end of the 17^th Assembly were lower than any time since they built the first social housing units in the valley back in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

In MACA, with committee support, the amount of money available for youth programming was increased threefold in the last seven years. The Youth Ambassador Program is being emulated across Canada as a way to develop future leaders. I am very proud of the support and opportunity for NWT youth that our programming provides.

In the last Assembly I directed the department to work collaboratively with the NWT Association of Communities and the local government administrators to develop a new funding formula to deliver funding to communities. The end result is a formula that recognizes the need for increased funding for larger regional centres and does not overly penalize those communities that are currently overfunded. We need to work together to find the money to implement the new funding formula; and it's a major priority for me, as an MLA or as a Minister, should you see fit to put me on Cabinet again.

I was also the first Minister responsible for the Department of Lands. As one of the three responsible Ministers, I took my role very seriously as we worked through what our responsibilities are in a post-devolution world.

I think change in the federal government in Ottawa bodes well for a truly regulatory regime, one that recognizes our regional land and water boards and takes into account the wishes of this Assembly and the people of the NWT. This past weekend we met with members of the Aboriginal governments, the YWCA, the Native Women's Association and the NWT Association of Communities and heard from them what their priorities are.

We also went through our own priority-setting exercise over the last few days, and I listened closely as Members outlined their priorities for the 18^th Assembly.

I welcome the opportunity, with the support of my colleagues, to be part of a team that will be tasked with moving many of these priorities forward.

---Applause