Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I also rise to express my disappointment and dismay over the government's apparent decision not to involve ordinary Members when they were developing the strategy for implementing many of the recommendations of the Beatty report. I, too, feel that there are many sections in this report that are well worth considering very favourably, but I think the fact that the ordinary Members were not involved leaves us in a difficult situation right now.
We have often heard this government promise a new process of more open government in which ordinary Members will have a greater voice. Despite this promise, Mr. Speaker, and despite the fact that there has been no consultation with the public nor with ordinary Members, the government seems to be using the Beatty report as the basis for the proposed changes in government structure contained in the Government Leader's document, Reshaping Northern Government.
Although we have heard that Reshaping Northern Government is a working document and only a starting point, a detailed report such as this must have required considerable discussion and could not have been formulated without making some policy decisions. Only now that the planning has been completed, the government is seeking the involvement of ordinary Members. This is not consultation. Consultation starts at the beginning.
Mr. Speaker, the government had an opportunity with the Beatty report to demonstrate its commitment to the promise of a new and open approach to government. But, I am afraid they have chosen to waste this opportunity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause