Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased to be able to second this motion today. I would like to commend my honourable colleague for Aivilik for bringing it forward. I would also commend him on his very thorough overview of the specific cutbacks which have been imposed with the December 2 statement made by the federal Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, the language in this motion is strong. The motion calls on this House to condemn the Government of Canada for its apparent lack of consideration to the people of the Northwest Territories. I am not a Member who believes in using such a strong approach, unless it is absolutely necessary, but I believe in being direct, straightforward and I will speak up when something is wrong. In this case, Mr. Speaker, I fully support sending this message to the federal government. I have been appalled, as many Members of this House have been, with the stance the federal Minister of Finance and his colleagues have taken on this and other issues.
There is a federal election and now the Progressive Conservative leadership conference is approaching. We have seen the true level of interest which this federal government has with respect to the people and the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, these funding cuts will impact on the north in a way that will set back our progress for many years. Yet, there is relatively little concern for this within the House of Commons and nothing but generalities and rhetoric from Ottawa bureaucrats.
I am particularly troubled by three features of the impact of these federal decisions on northern communities. First, there is a disturbing trend we are seeing at the federal level with respect to the lack of consultation and communication with the Government of the Northwest Territories. We have seen it recently with respect to the decision to sign a pact with the United States protesting cruise missiles over the peaceful Mackenzie Valley. My honourable colleague from Nahendeh spoke about this clearly earlier in this session.
We have seen a failure to communicate on matters surrounding the fiasco with project Nordic Reliant. Whereas my honourable colleague from Deh Cho told the House, military personnel were caught poaching our caribou and the federal authorities have not even apologized.
We have seen this with respect to the devastating cuts and funds for social housing and cuts for aboriginal and French language programs that we have raised in this House. We have seen it in the way the Prime Minister has cancelled a scheduled meeting he had with our Premier. The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Kim Campbell, has not even bothered to respond to our written concerns.