Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An article appeared on the front page of the Globe & Mail, yesterday, written by Miro Cernetig who has been following the workings of our Legislature for some time now. I know that many of his comments upset people because some of the non-aboriginal people tend to be cast in the mould of the "continually critical" of the consensus form of government that we have in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I have been interested in our development for the last 30 years, beginning with the Carruthers Commission and the travel in the eastern Arctic in the mid 60s. Now that I am in political office, I value my freedom of speech and the right to express my opinion on situations in our system.
For the record, Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that we are in the process of evolution, and although I am seen as one of the strong proponents of party politics, I would like to make it absolutely clear that party politics, as it exists in this country, is not in good shape. I am not in favour of any kind of system where a party dictates every single thing you say, every movement you make because it is, in my opinion, as inconsistent with the idea of being a representative of people. That is fundamental to our system of government, we represent people. Although what we have now has its weaknesses, I see us evolving in a way that is consistent with the idea that we are represented by people and that we are not controlled by big, large, powerful interest groups. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause