Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In caucus last week, there was some debate on whether there should be a provision in the N.W.T. Act for the Assembly to dissolve itself and proceed to the electorate for a renewed mandate at a time of its own choosing. I believed that debate should take place in public and I agreed to bring forward a motion.

At present, we have a fixed term of four years. If we wish to dissolve ourselves at any time before that, we must ask the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for permission to do it. I think this is completely unacceptable. In fact, the current act locks into a fall election which is the worst possible time to begin a new Assembly. It makes it impossible to get a capital budget prepared for a November sitting to deal with it as we are doing now. It makes it equally impossible to prepare an O & M budget for the winter session.

The Constitution of this country allows every legislature a term of five years. Each legislature has the power to dissolve itself and go to the public whenever it feels it is appropriate to do so.

As Mr. Todd has indicated, we have had a rough year. It took a full year for the government to put a budget together, since the previous government decided to let the new government set its own agenda. Yesterday, I gave notice of a motion to request the Premier to ask the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to change the N.W.T. Act Giving the Assembly the powers it is asking for is a step in the direction of further constitutional development, Mr. Speaker.

The next Assembly which, ominously, will be the 13th Assembly, Mr. Speaker, should not be tied down to a fixed election date established under a federal act. I urge the Members to participate in the public debate on this motion tomorrow.

---Applause