Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I would like to say that I guess in this constitutional round, which was called a Canada round, many of us were privileged to represent our constituency of the Northwest Territories.
I know that it has not been all that easy, and the small gains that have been made, or some of the gains that have been made, have come with a great deal of energy and determination. Our changing society and its demands for relevancy, economic and social change, is a challenge to all of us. A great deal of concern has been expressed, that we are spending important priority time on the Constitution, when other issues of economic and social well being of our constituents are not being address adequately.
We are all well aware that there is a great deal of change taking place in the global society, not only here in Canada, but within our own territory. The pressure of change is affecting how Canada is able to maintain itself. This broader global adjustment is affecting Canada and our jurisdiction.
It is important for all of us, to be as clear as we can be, so we may proceed together. In the Constitution, the Constitution is a framework which society judges its actions. At a time this country seems to be going in so many directions, it is imperative not to take lightly the importance of this constitutional document. It is important that we do not point fingers, but also look at the positive points.
The decisions that are made in the next month will determine our future, and will be setting the framework where our children will grow up. It is time for all of us to do our best thinking. People have to decide what is the right thing to do. We can all agree, the package is not perfect, but really, whatever really is?
Mr. Chairman, if we put all the competing and balancing interests together, this is how the residents of Canada should make their decisions in looking at those two main points. It is not to say what is in it for me, but what is in it for all of us, and what is in it for the future generations.
We all know that the package has to stand the test of time, and we have a question on when it does not, how do we change it. These were all struggles we went through, every one of us who was involved in these constitutional discussions. I would like to say thank you to Sam Gargan, Ernie Bernhardt, Dennis Patterson, Brian Lewis, and Stephen Kakfwi, who spent a great deal of time weighing a lot of the proposals that were put forward. As well, I would like to take the opportunity to say that we did not do it alone, that in these discussions, certainly all the people who were involved, and I think other people were involved in land claims discussions. There is a multitude of legal people who are representing other governments, and the federal government, and I would like to say thank you to the people who are the main people, and who supported this constitutional process. Mr. Bob Overvold, Bernie Funston, Geoff Bickert, Christina Scattolin, George Braden, Liz Snider, and our political staff, Graeme Garson and Lynda Sorensen.
Most of all, I think these discussions we are having here are very important because we can weigh, as Mr. Koe says, the thoughts of what comes from the various constituencies. I look forward to the time that we can deal with the broader issues of economic concern, and I believe that certainly with the deliberations, some of our political leaders, the aboriginal leaders, were commendable. Certainly, I would say to all of you, I was proud to be sitting next to them, particularly at the pressure points when we felt that we were getting nowhere. They stood it, and they were patient, and they very seldom had a point where they did not maintain their cool, and that was very difficult.
So, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say to all those people, thank you for taking part. I hope that with this debate, we are able to examine the questions, and answer clearly, so that the constituencies outside of this room understand where we are going. Thank you very much.