Good afternoon. Orders of the day for Wednesday, March 4, 1992. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Kakfwi. Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements. Mr. Whitford.

Hear, hear!

Ministers' statements. Ms. Cournoyea.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Helen Maksagak of Cambridge Bay on her appointment as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. Ms. Maksagak was sworn into office last night during a special ceremony in her home community. Over 200 attended the community-organized event.

Our new Deputy Commissioner is highly respected for her active participation on several boards and her service to the public. She has been a member of the social assistance appeals committee, the housing association, and the drug and alcohol board of directors, and numerous community support groups. Ms. Maksagak will be visiting Yellowknife within the next few days to familiarize herself with her duties, and we will get a chance to meet her then.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to take the opportunity to express the appreciation of cabinet and the Legislative Assembly for the services provided by the former Deputy Commissioner, Ann Hanson of Iqaluit. Thank you.

---Applause

Ministers' statements. Ministers' statements.

Members will join me in welcoming to the Assembly today nine young men and women participating in the 1991 Ontario Legislature internship program. The interns are visiting our Legislature to broaden their understanding of parliamentary institutions. Accompanying the interns is Professor Graham White of the University of Toronto.

Sitting in the Speaker's gallery visiting us today are 15 first-year Canadian foreign service officers who work in the Department of External Affairs and International Trade and are visiting Yellowknife as part of a tour to familiarize themselves with the various regions of Canada.

And we also have today, in the gallery, a group from the management studies course from Arctic College in Iqaluit, with their course instructor, John Matthews.

Members will find interesting that a study of the Northwest Territories Legislature is included in the course curriculum, and this is the fourth successive year that we have welcomed representatives from this group to our House. We are exceedingly popular today.

--- Applause

Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Lewis.

Mr. Speaker, we are very often given things to put on the fridge, and I have in front of me, like all other Members, a small decal of a green and white fish with a blue parka, a carrot in a green parka, and a bannock with a blue parka, and what looks like a garbage can with a toque on it. What I find oppressive, Mr. Speaker, is the phrase "Grab a bite that's right," because I have brought up four kids, I and my wife, over the last 30, years and if there is one thing we are fed up listening to, it is the phrase "Grab a bite."

I believe one of the greatest inventions we have is a table and a chair where you can sit down and have a good meal. I would like to tell Members of this government that they come up with all kinds of cute ideas in order to convince us that we should eat right, but the worst thing you can put on a fridge is the phrase "Grab a bite." I was sick for four months, Mr. Speaker, as the result of a long campaign where I never sat down to have a proper meal, where I was always grabbing a bite on the run, and I feel very strongly that if you want to keep your family together you do not let them sit in front of the TV with a bite. You do not give them a sandwich to eat in the car on the way to work. You tell them, "Sit down; eat your food, and let's do it as a family." And if you feel like it, even say a prayer before you eat it. But "Grab a bite that's right" is terrible. Do not grab a bite, sit down and have a proper meal. Thank you.

Members' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a short statement to make on consensus government, and the events that transpired in the House yesterday. As all Members are aware, there were a number of controversial votes yesterday that saw the defeat of a government bill and the deletion of a portion of the Department of Education's capital budget. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that I was surprised at the reaction of the honourable Members on the other side of the House. I was left with the impression that Members should not oppose the initiatives of government and that there was no room for disagreement once a matter reaches the floor of the House.

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the practice was in previous Legislatures, but I feel confident that this will not be the practice in this Legislature.

---Applause

Times have changed. I sincerely believe that all Members of this House can work together...

It works both ways.

...to ensure this government meets the needs of all our citizens. But to make this happen, adequate consultation must take place between cabinet and ordinary Members. To me, the essence of consensus government is adequate consultation. I think the message is clear that Members on this side of the House will not rubber-stamp government initiatives.

---Applause

Members' statements. Ms. Mike.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to respond to public comments about the boundary plebiscite that have been attributed in the eastern media to the honourable Member for Iqaluit. The honourable Member has reportedly stated publicly that if the Dene want to deny Inuit aspirations, if the western business community wants to be seen as killing the Inuit land claims, they better be prepared for the consequences.

Shame, shame!

I want to be on record, Mr. Speaker, that I do not support this sort of heavy-handed message which appears to underline this statement. I believe this is the same antagonistic tone we heard in this House during the honourable Member's reply to the Opening Address on December 18, 1991, when he stated, "Perhaps we will never be able to satisfy Mr. Erasmus unless Baffin Island became part of the Dene land claim..." Last week, he was also reported to have stated that if the West votes "No" on the boundary, the Inuit land claim is gone.

Mr. Speaker, these comments reflect on us, them and their mentality and accomplish nothing. Throughout history, aboriginal people of the North -- Inuit and Dene -- have proven time and again that problems can only be resolved when we take the time to communicate. We have made decisions by listening to views which may be different from our own, expressing our thoughts respectfully. Eventually, we come to agreement.

We Inuit have not believed in bullying others with suggestions that they better be prepared for the consequences, or personal comments about their leaders, or statements that all will be lost unless we get our own way.

I do not believe that remarks attributed to Mr. Patterson, nor the tone of his reply to the Opening Address last session, reflects the way the Inuit of the Eastern Arctic are viewing the boundary plebiscite and the creation of Nunavut. We do not want Nunavut to arise from the ashes of a bitter struggle with our Dene neighbours and the non-native people of the Western Arctic. We want this matter resolved in the spirit of mutual respect. I believe that poor tactics will discredit the evolution of Nunavut and that they are unbecoming of a Minister of this government. He does not speak for me. I hope the Government Leader will take steps to ensure that we will not see this trend continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Pudlat.

(Translation) Mr. Speaker, we vote on issues that are on the floor. We knew that some motions were passed and some were defeated. I have just learned that some motions can be defeated and that the Department of Education budget is very large. I understand that the capital budget for the Department of Education was not planned properly, and maybe this is the reason why the motion was passed to cut some of the Department of Education's budget. Maybe we should work toward more monthly statements that have been requested by the educational boards; then maybe the $5000 would not have been deleted from the budget. I have just realized how a planning process should be set up. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members' statements. Mr. Patterson.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay special tribute to a constituent who showed extreme courage and dedication toward others in the last year of her life. Last Friday, Ms. Leetia Geetah passed away in Iqaluit, even though she was only 31 years old. Her death was caused as a result of her having become infected with the AIDS virus.

Her parents, Charlie and Inuapik Sagiaktuk, and her two children, Oolooleaktuk and Audla, were very proud of her because during the last year of her life she dedicated herself to doing all she could to see that others did not become infected with this deadly killer.

Mr. Speaker, this message was not being delivered by a health professional or by someone who had read enough books to be called an expert. This was from a woman whose own life was becoming shorter with every day that passed. It must have taken every ounce of courage for her to stand up in front of others and tell her story.

Mr. Speaker, Leetia Geetah will not be remembered for her special works of art of her great political actions. However, she should, and will, be remembered as a brave and unselfish individual who tried to help her people with every ounce of strength left in her. I hope that her messages about this terrible disease will be remembered by everyone that her life has touched.

By this statement, Mr. Speaker, I am hoping that we in this Assembly will also do our part to help spread her messages as one way of saying "thank you" to this very special citizen. Qujannamiik.

---Applause