Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As the Member for Keewatin Central stated, this issue is not new to the NWT. This has been talked about for at least 15 years in the NWT, concerning a need to create a Nunavut territory.

I believe that we are unique within Canada, as we are a government represented with a majority of people who were born here, born of aboriginal descent, and also the long-time Northerners who are representing their communities.

Even though we are an aboriginal majority government in the NWT, this system is still, to some of us, foreign; we did not create the procedures and the way we operate. This was brought to us from Ottawa. Not too long ago the Dene from the West did not want to be involved in the Northwest Territories government, until very recently, because they did not recognize the NWT government. Even today I believe that some of the Dene still do not recognize the territorial government.

But we, the people from the East, are new to this government. We only started to be involved 20 years ago. We are fortunate, I think, that we could be here and be legislators to this land, but it is still foreign.

The creation of the Nunavut territory is a dream of the eastern people. As the Member for High Arctic said, it is the aspiration of the Nunavut people. When Nunavut government is created, it is going to be a public government. The seats will be open to the public, no matter who they are, but I believe because of the make-up of the population that we are going to have a government that is more representative of the Inuit who live there. It is going to be a government, as my friend for Keewatin Centre said, that is more sensitive to the eastern needs, because it is going to be in the Nunavut territory.

Yellowknife is very far away from Baffin, very far away from the Keewatin. For me to go home is like going across the country, from Vancouver to Montreal or Ottawa. It takes 16 hours altogether and eight hours' flying time. My people in the North Baffin, although they would like to be involved in the government process, have very little understanding of what happens here, because they do not get a chance to come here, It is very, very costly for my people to come here. The ticket is more than $2600.

My friend from Kitikmeot mentioned that his people are concerned because they want to continue hunting where they were born in Great Bear Lake and other areas. I believe the agreement, in terms of renewable resource harvesting, is going to be open to both sides. The people from the West will be able to hunt freely in the Nunavut region, and the East will be able to hunt in the divisional area in the West.

As far as non-renewable resources are concerned, there is going to be an agreement between Nunavut and the western government with respect to sharing those resources in particular areas close to the boundary.

I do not believe the people in the Kitikmeot are going to be hampered by going into Yellowknife or Inuvik for their essential services, or even to Hay River.

I do not think transportation is going to change. People in the Northwest Territories, especially in the Fort McPherson and Arctic Red River areas, are able to harvest natural resources from the Yukon. People from Old Crow, Yukon are able to harvest natural re sources in the Northwest Territories without any restriction. I think we could continue to do this.

Regarding hospital needs of the Nunavut region, they will still continue to use hospitals in Quebec, Ontario and Yellowknife. I would encourage everyone to make sure that the people of the Northwest Territories understand resource harvesting and using essential services such as hospitals and schools so that we will be able to make an agreement between the two governments. For those people in Kitikmeot, Baffin or the Keewatin, they will be able to use centres outside of the Nunavut area for hospital needs as well as their schooling needs. I do not think this is going to change as far as transportation is concerned.

I encourage everyone to turn out for the plebiscite and vote "Yes" on May 4th; people from the East and people from the West. Keep in mind that this is not going to go away. The Nunavut region will always try to get a government that is more equitable and closer to the people, as my friend from the Kivallivik Region said, so that the government will be more sensitized to the needs of the Nunavut people. Yellowknife is far away from the Baffin and Keewatin areas. Qujannamiik.