Thank you. Mr. Speaker, last spring, a committee of political leaders developed terms of reference for a commission to develop a comprehensive constitutional proposal for a western territory in the event of the division of the Northwest Territories. Last July, this House affirmed the commission's terms of reference, appointed an additional member and appropriated funds to enable the commission to fulfill the first phase of its mandate.

The commission, chaired by Jim Bourque, with members Bertha Allen, George Braden, Les Carpenter, Richard Hardy and Francois Paulette, is making every effort to complete its complex and difficult task in a thorough, co-operative and timely fashion.

It has funded interested parties to facilitate their participation, conducted a round of community consultations, done research and expert consultation, and, above all, struggled together as a group to reconcile strongly held and sometimes contradictory views on what principles could form the basis of a constitution to serve all residents of a new western territory.

This morning, the commission released its interim report. The commission will now embark on a second round of community hearings to seek reactions from the public. Armed with this advice, it will complete a final and more detailed report by April 27. This will signal the end of the first phase of the commission's mandate.

I want to commend each commissioner for his and her effort, and I encourage them to maintain the goodwill and energy that they have displayed to see the project to completion. However, the commissioners are not alone in shouldering responsibility for success. The challenge now is for all of us --western MLAs, political leaders, and citizens of every community -- to examine carefully the recommendations of the commission, to discuss them openly and frankly but without rancour, and to help guide the commission toward a final report which could form the basis of a consensus among residents of the West for a constitution for a new territory. Thank you.