Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This statement, Mr. Speaker, is on behalf of all Members on this side of the House and some Members who share seats with the government.
Mr. Speaker, we continue to be concerned about the method this government uses to inform Members and the public about the plans and priorities of government. That was the basis of Members' concerns yesterday.
Mr. Pollard insisted on using the media to inform us of a major development with health billing. Mr. Allooloo completely failed to communicate with Mr. Patterson about the firing of the elected people of the town council in Iqaluit.
My statement today, Mr. Speaker, is about the Commissioner's opening address. This is the place where the government informs the Members and the public about its plans and priorities. This year all we received was a very, very brief history lesson.
The Commissioner's address was, once again, delivered by the Premier. So, the notes I made for my response to the Commissioner's address were obviously very skimpy.
Mr. Speaker, the action of the Premier, yesterday, showed disrespect for the Crown, disrespect for the office of Commissioner, disrespect for the public and disrespect for Members of this Assembly. What is the point of having a Commissioner's address? What's the point of having replies to the Commissioner's address when there's nothing to reply to? If the Premier insists on delivering her own message, we should consider changing the rules to accommodate what the Premier wants to do. Thank you.
---Applause