Thank you, Madam Speaker. I think that part of the motivation for the motion, according to the mover, was a concern about the inequitable distribution of work-load. I want to say briefly on that point, Madam Speaker, that I think this is something we should be concerned about. I think the government has put on itself a very ambitious time table. I formed the conclusion, when I was Minister of Health and Social Services long ago, that it would be impossible or extremely difficult to amalgamate the two departments. I became convinced that it was going to be, in itself, a massive undertaking. Set aside income support reform, dealing with sexual abuse, suicide and the alcohol and drug issues. That alone is a full-time occupation if it is going to be done well.

With respect to the new Ministers in Cabinet, it will be a full-time occupation for even an experienced Minister. The problem being, Madam Speaker, that when you have two bureaucracies discussing jurisdictions, responsibilities, amalgamations and downsizing, you have to be a strong leader in order to make progress because of the nature of bureaucracies.

I don't want to get off track, Madam Speaker, but I believe that it is the Premier and Members of Cabinet who know better even than myself as an ordinary Member whether they can carry on with the work-load they have over the next number of months and handle all of the agenda items on their plate with the mix of strengths and weaknesses that there are now on Cabinet. We see the Ministers perform in question period, in committees, but we don't see them doing their day-to-day work. My position is, which is similar to Mr. Dent's, I defer to the Premier and Members of her Cabinet as to whether or not they think the present mix of experienced and new Members is adequate to undertake the work remaining in the life of this session.

Madam Speaker, I am going to be voting so as to allow the Premier and Cabinet to make this decision. I think if the Premier and the Cabinet stand up and vote against the motion, then, to me, that will be a clear indication that the Premier and her colleagues have decided that they can carry on and handle the high expectations of the people of the Northwest Territories and ordinary Members here. I think the ball rests with the Cabinet and particularly with the Premier, Madam Speaker.

I do recall that, in 1985, when there was a similar motion also made by Mr. Gargan, and also difficult for all of us to deal with, the Cabinet of the day which I was a part of decided that there would be a free vote. I know Cabinet has met on this issue just not too many minutes ago. Perhaps they have taken some position. I am very interested to find out what that position is. We will soon know. I would welcome the Premier's thoughts on this matter.

I would like to close by saying that, whatever the result today, I would like to assure the Premier that she has my full support for taking the disciplinary measures and the performance monitoring measures as she sees fit, provided it is done in the spirit of fairness and with her very best information available to her. I think it is the Premier who knows best, whether the situation is manageable or not. I have been in her shoes. I know that, sometimes, there are matters that cannot be discussed in the Legislative Assembly, that are factors in the Premier's judgment of the performance of the Ministers, matters that are confidential, Cabinet privileged issues, which we don't know about and really have no right to know about in this House.

I do think it would be a terrible setback to the evaluation of responsible government and the office of the leader of the elected executive, the Government Leader and now the Premier, if we were to have to decide this fall that somehow this responsibility for disciplining and monitoring Ministers should fall back on the Members of this Assembly. I think that would be a step backwards. I think we all want to see the Premier have that authority and have the courage to exercise it, if required. I, for one, would respect the Premier's action if she should take it today or in future.

Madam Speaker, I have taken some brief time to consult with some valued constituents on this matter. I think the general advice I got was that, even though -- when I was in this situation myself as a Minister -- the judgment of the House and the honourable Members which I respected was rather strong and perhaps, in the view of some of my constituents, rather harsh, my trusted advisors have suggested that it is a complicated matter, a difficult job. The Premier knows more about this issue than any of us. Being a Member for Baffin and being a neighbouring constituent of the honourable Minister who, believe it or not, wants to cultivate good relations with her constituents, I believe I should leave the matter to the Premier and the Cabinet. So, after some consideration over months and particularly during the last number of hours, I'm going to be like Mr. Dent and vote so as to allow the Premier and Cabinet to make this decision. Thank you.