Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I initially did not support the bill when it was first introduced by the Honourable Minister. I stated, Mr. Chairman, that my constituents would not want me to support any legislation to increase or introduce any form of tax within their jurisdiction. However, Mr. Chairman, the more I think about it, the more I get confused on this initiative. Mr. Chairman, we have families living in wooden shacks, there are families living in substandard homes in the territories, there are programs and services that make life a bit easier for women and children in this jurisdiction that has been curtailed because the system is not able to keep up with the demands. Mr. Chairman, there are children going to school every morning across the board without breakfast because we do not have the means to provide breakfast for them. Mr. Chairman, if the money generated from the initiative would be used to help women and children, who sometimes we seem to neglect because we do not have the means to help them, and maybe because someday, Mr. Chairman, we may become a province.
We have talked about the dream of many of the people of the NWT to be self-sufficient, to become a province. Maybe this is a good time to start practising this, since I am told by the Members of the Standing Committee on Finance and by some of my colleagues, people who cannot afford to pay taxes in this initiative, if it is passed by this House, those individuals who do not make that kind of money will be given a rebate. This is not a case of the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. I think the initiative is fair in mind and, Mr. Chairman, I am and I will at this time, be supporting the motion. Thank you.
---Applause