Thank you Mr. Chairman. I am personally very glad to see that there is this initial step toward decentralization. I fully support it, as I have indicated before. I would say, though, that there are some concerns that are being raised not just from the smaller communities but from the centre of the Territories itself, which is Yellowknife; and, as Mr. Lewis indicated yesterday, there is an economic downturn in Yellowknife as well. But aside from that, I think my major concern is that in the steps taken by the government toward decentralization, there was no consultation, prior to the decisions made by the cabinet, with the ordinary Members; and it may be that there was some consultation with the standing committee on finance, but I am not a Member of that committee. Therefore, I am left in the dark until the O and M budget comes out.

I think with regard to decentralization, there will always be concern by some Member of the Territories as to the way any step is taken. I think the communities that I represent are no exception, because the communities that are mentioned in this report are Fort Simpson and Rankin Inlet, being stranded in the never-never land. I am sure that it was not meant to say that those are the only communities which are in never-never land, because there are more. My communities of Baker Lake and Arviat are among them because they have the higher unemployment rates in the Keewatin.

I can see from the number of Members that are in here and the people who are concerned and are speaking out about the direction of this report, New Directions, that the smaller communities or the people who represent smaller communities are speaking out and are being very critical. But in order to get to where I think all of us as the Legislative Assembly want to see our Territories go, there has to be consultation before decisions are made. There was an example before, where the government had made moves and had not consulted with Members. I do not want to see any consequences of decentralization as a result of not consulting with other Members of the Assembly because I think all Members are in support of decentralization, I guess what I am trying to say is that I know cabinet is trying to consult with Members, but I think there should be more, especially when it comes to major issues like decentralization. Thank you Mr. Chairman.