Mr. Speaker, it is the listening element of what we have in this House. We have tried to prepare the Members for how we are going to structurally change the government, so that we can be more responsive to the people's needs. I think we have addressed a lot of issues in terms of privatization, decentralization, financial control and still are able to deliver as much as possible to projects and programs. We have tried not to cut those. If we did not do anything and only looked at changing faces on this side, I am sure that we would be in a much more difficult position than we are presently.
I can suggest to you that in everything we do, there is a certain planning time that is required, a consultation time. If any individual was able to make the decisions and arbitrarily put those decisions in place, things would go much more quickly. This is a different type of government. People want to be involved and we have tried to take that time. A lot of things have changed. We have a framework on how we are going to do business and the most difficult part is to get a framework that people feel they can operate within. It has been difficult to change even the attitude of people towards the financial difficulties that we are in and to try to have decisions made that will allow other people to have input before those decisions are finally made.
There have been many changes. Fortunately, the external effect of those changes is not felt at this time. There have been significant changes. Certainly over the year, the territorial government could have put obstacles in the way of settling claims, but we did not. We tried to accommodate the claims and support the development of those claims. In the past, when I was involved with a land claim settlement, this government put many obstacles in the way to try to get that claim settled. It cost millions of dollars to answer the questions. We have tried to be fair and tried to put forward constructive solutions to problems that we might have. We have come a long way.
In terms of the face of this government in federal politics, we have come a long way in the last year. It took time, effort, dedication and patience. I think not one of us can say that we did not do a good job. I did not do it alone. Mr. Kakfwi did not do it alone. We all did it together. The face of this government on national politics is one of respect. I think that took some time and effort to do. I believe that many of the Cabinet Ministers have tried to resolve many problems between provincial and federal government. If you want the list of achievements again, we can do that.
What I have tried to say to this government is, do not brag, do not put a face out there, just try to put your head down and do the job. This is what we have tried to do. Perhaps we do not have glossy profiles, but we are trying to do the job. I think there are a lot of things that have been achieved and there is a lot of respect given to the Northwest Territories from outside this territory. Those achievements have not come without a great deal of effort. Thank you.