Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to express my appreciation to the Government Leader for her quick action today in assigning portfolios to the new Ministers. However, I am a little surprised that there are no shuffles within the portfolios of the veteran Members of Cabinet, even though these veteran Members are still fairly young. For example, the business community of the Northwest Territories is very concerned about the fact that we have one Minister who holds the portfolios of Finance and Economic Development and Tourism.

There seems to be a real contradiction here. On one hand, he has to hold the line, reduce the deficit, cut costs and raise taxes. On the other hand, he has a mandate to create economic development and, to do this, he has to create business and employment opportunities, probably by spending more money or making more money available to businesses and people in the north.

Mr. Speaker, I raise these points and hope they are considered when the next Cabinet shuffle takes place. I also want to wish everyone the best of the season, have a good rest. Mahsi.

---Applause