Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories government and the residents of the Northwest Territories have a large, vast constituency that, in itself, provides that it is well managed. A positive look at how we could be more self-sufficient, probably would be a far more positive way of dealing with the situation. Dependency on other jurisdictions or other matters from the provincial jurisdictions, whether there is separation, whether there is not,

whether there may be another constitutional round really are just questions that are looming over the horizon. We can only second-guess what they would be, and we can only second-guess some possible strategy to a theoretical question. But we realize that they are there, we take it seriously, but in the meantime, I believe our situation is one where we have an opportunity to gain much more self-sufficiency in the wise use of our resources that we have here in the Northwest Territories and in managing them well. There have been a number of claim settlements that could be well supported in trying to get some movement for the residents of the Northwest Territories in terms of jobs and business opportunities.

So I guess when such a question has been posed to me, it's difficult to answer in a very simple way because there are a lot of issues in the national, global context that can go either way and I would think that we will be involved in any future constitutional discussions. We've been assured of that, if there should be one.

Certainly, in terms of the financial arrangements that we have with Canada, with the Prime Minister, he realizes the particular situation with us. Once the budget comes down, we will be having another series of meetings on how we can cooperatively make sure that if there are going to be cuts or squeezes, that we play a part on how that is done, whether it's a federal operation in the Northwest Territories or a territorial one.

So, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to be evasive or try to put it off and not answer the question, but I do not believe that we will not be included in whatever there is or whatever situation we find ourselves in. Certainly, self-sufficiency is a most important goal to achieve and, secondly, if all goes according to the best scenario, Canada stays together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.