Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. The discussion that has been introduced this morning, to me, goes to the very core of the structure of consensus government. It goes to the representation in the House, and it goes to the representation for all people in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Chairperson, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does guarantee equal representation. That doesn't mean perfect equal division by number or by perfect lines, but it does have a constitutional principle at play about equal representation for all people in Canada, including the people of the Northwest Territories. It's a constitutional principle. It's a principle of democracy, and it's one that needs to be debated by all the Members who are here, but we need to have that debate in a way that is informed, where we can have due consideration of the constitutional principles at play, due consideration of the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories, where we can give consideration to ensuring that all of the small communities who feel under represented have a voice and know that they have a voice, but also that the people in Yellowknife, who are 50 percent of the population, also have a voice, that they continue to have a voice.
Mr. Chairperson, in my view, the Northwest Territories is still a whole, and if the small communities falter, Yellowknife will falter; if Yellowknife falters, the small communities will falter. Vice-versa, if the small communities can succeed and have that voice and are confident with their voice, Yellowknife's going to do well, too. If Yellowknife is doing well, the small communities should be doing well. We need to find a way so this debate is unified and that we can actually go forward and feel that every person in the Northwest Territories has that equal representation that's guaranteed to all of us in the Charter.
Mr. Chair, that's really the extent of what I can provide this morning. I think more needs to be provided to every Member here, and we should be hearing from all of our constituents before we make this fundamental change. Mr. Chair, I am not in favour of having any further debate from my side. I am not in favour of making this change right now, but I'm very much in favour of having this discussion.
I will give one last comment, which is that I think one of the other Members said we need to look at the whole process, and I agree. Unfortunately, that has been built into the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, where every second sitting, there is a requirement that we actually go out and have some consideration of these issues. That is coming up this term. This House and this Assembly have an obligation to go out and have this exact discussion in an organized fashion. Really, when the Member says we get down to work, maybe this is one of the items we need to get down to work on very soon. Thank you, Mr. Chair.