(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to make my first statement to this Assembly.
For the past two decades, people in the Central and Eastern Arctic have pursued the dream of public government in Nunavut. The realization of this dream is just 40 months away and there is much work to be done between now and 1999. (Translation ends)
Since passage of the Nunavut Act in 1993, a great deal has been accomplished. The last Assembly established a Special Joint Committee on Division that focused on the critical issues to be dealt with, and developed recommendations that the Government of the NWT has adopted. Other accomplishments include:
- the establishment of the Nunavut Implementation Commission;
- the division of Arctic College into two new colleges;
- the development of GNWT public service training plans for Nunavut and the western NWT;
- the realignment of electoral boundaries in the East and West to correspond with the division boundary;
- the establishment of separate headquarters in Nunavut and the West for Health Services and the Petroleum Products Division;
- the completion of draft transition plans for division by all GNWT departments; and
- the start of research and policy development on intergovernmental agreements, expenditure and revenue management, infrastructure and administrative requirements, and many other division-related issues.
The government of the NWT and the 12th Assembly also supported the Constitutional Development Steering Committee as a forum for the people of the Western Arctic to reach consensus on the restructuring of government and a constitution for the future western territory.
Although much has been accomplished, many significant and complicated issues remain to be resolved in the next three-and-a-half years. A number of projects begun during the 12th Assembly need to be completed. Electoral boundaries for Nunavut and the West will have to be established. Constitutional development efforts in the West must continue. In the area of incremental costs of division, a more precise agreement with the federal government is required; given the fiscal cutbacks imposed on this government, we cannot divert money from programs and services to cover a federal obligation resulting from the settlement of a land claims.
These and many other issues will require our time, our effort and our cooperation.
In short, Mr. Speaker, division of the NWT is a tremendous challenge and we must work collectively and with determination to meet this challenge. Thank you.
---Applause