Thank you, Madam Speaker. When the motion first came out, I first considered naying the unanimous consent. On second thought, I decided not to, but I want to indicate that I do not support this motion. It is not because I don't support the Members who are being assigned to the committee, but there are some principles I would like to bring up.
I've been a strong advocate, over the past several years and the last year, in particular, of trying to have this Assembly review MLAs' performances. The way we perform and where we do most of our work is not only in this House, but in our standing and special committees. We expect that membership on these committees would reflect individual Members' interests, reflect an east/west balance -- which is one of the key principles of operating in this House -- and, some regional balance.
When we were first elected in October, 1991, during our first caucuses, a Striking Committee was formed. One of their tasks was to give us each a ballot with a list of the committees. I, being a rookie at the time, indicated my preferences -- one, two, three, et cetera -- but, really not knowing the significance of that sheet of paper, at the time. Subsequently, to my disappointment, I didn't get my second choice, which was the Standing Committee on Finance.
Ever since then, Madam Speaker, I've been trying to get on this committee. Even though I'm not on the committee, I've attended most of the Standing Committee on Finance meetings, trying to ensure that the interests of the western Arctic, north of Yellowknife and north of the Dogrib nation, are represented.
Madam Speaker, my opposition to this motion is that, again, for about the third or fourth time, we are replacing Members on our committees without reviewing the make up of the committees. We are replacing one Member who has moved from one side of the House to this side, and in your case, Madam Speaker, to the chair. We are doing this again, without reviewing the totality of all our committees.
I would like to see a total review of these committees. One of the points I would like to raise is that, if this motion is accepted, on the Standing Committee on Finance, there will now be three Members from the Yellowknife, North Slave area. There will be two Members from Yellowknife, and one from North Slave. And, no representation for the whole Inuvik region. I know there are critics that say there are over 15,000 people in Yellowknife, and they should have more people on this standing committee. But, we have never, in this Assembly, chosen representation on the basis of population, it has always been on the basis of east/west and on regional balance. Another response is that, there are no Yellowknife representatives for Cabinet. So, this specific committee should be loaded, to ensure that Yellowknife gets its fair share of the pie. I say this is unwarranted, and can not support those types of arguments.
Madam speaker, I am a resident of Yellowknife, and have declared so on the conflict of interest document and other documents I have filed with this House. My family and I have lived here for a long time, and I think we contribute quite a lot to this town. A lot of the issues I bring up are not only for my constituency, but on issues that impact all residents of the Northwest Territories, including a lot of my neighbours in Yellowknife.
Madam Speaker, all the work that I do, and which most Members of this Assembly do, is to strive for fairness and equity. That is based on sharing the wealth in all our communities. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Standing Committee on Finance for allowing me to participate in their meetings over the past few years, and I promise that I will continue to work with this committee and all committees, if they continue to allow me into their meetings and deliberations.
All I'm asking from this Assembly is that we develop a process whereby we allow ourselves the opportunity to review memberships on our standing committees, and not have them appointed for full four year terms. We just went through a mid-term review of Cabinet. In previous times, the Cabinet has reshuffled their. I think a process similar to the mid-term review, would be beneficial and allow Members some flexibility in working and contributing to other committees and eventually for the benefit of this Assembly and of people in the north. Mahsi.