Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During the doom session of this House I wish to speak about the decentralization initiatives of this government. My concern at the time was the seemingly unequal distribution of our government program to the regions of this territory, and this remains my concern today. As all members are aware, the majority of benefits from this decentralization initiative will go to the Keewatin, Fort Smith and Inuvik regions. Once again, those in most need, the people of the Kitikmeot have been ignored. It seems that whenever this government proposes a large initiative such as the decentralization initiative, the Kitikmeot does not benefit, and there is always some bureaucratic reason for this omission. During this particular exercise the government stated that there exciting mining activities are taking place in the Coronation Gulf area and that economic development will naturally flow from these developments. I wonder if the Minister of Finance can tell me and the people of my region when these benefits will begin to accrue in the region? When can they expect to see training programs and more importantly jobs from these developments? Will it be sometime in 1993 or 94 or sometime in the next century? I do not suppose that the Minister can give me a reasonable answer to this question, because he simply does not know. I can only assume that people in my region will be doomed to a future of poverty and reliance on the social welfare system until these mining developments take place, if ever. I do not wish to offend the Members of this House. However, I ask all Members to consider the purpose of decentralization. Is it to provide better programs and services or are we simply moving parts of departments to the regions? I hope it will be the former rather than the latter.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to continue my statement.