Supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier is saying that because these two Ministers were new and the budget process was in the works and there are new initiatives going on, she did not feel they could handle the job. Why hasn't she considered sharing her workload with these two Ministers? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, we were in the process of the budget preparation and I didn't think it appropriate, since I had been already dealing with the issues that were being dealt with at that time, that both the very able Mr. Arngna'naaq and Mr. Ng had two major portfolios and I felt that it was important that they get the focus around those portfolios. As far as I was concerned, the portfolios I was managing, although large, were manageable. I will just explain to you what those portfolios are because I think sometimes we have a lot of lines on our portfolios but it doesn't necessarily mean that the lines of responsibilities are bigger than some other departmental responsibilities.

In terms of the portfolios that I have right now, they are the Power Corporation, Personnel, Department of Health and Social Services and the Status of Women. Mr. Speaker, the Power Corporation is at arm's length from government and has a corporate strategy and a plan, and it is not a time-consuming responsibility. Although I was heavily involved with the Dogrib Nation in terms of the hydro power project to help get things moving in that area, it is not necessarily a day-to-day time-consuming activity.

The Department of Personnel was downsized when a large part of its operation was consolidated into the Financial Management Board. The women's advisory liaises with women's groups throughout the NWT and administers a grant. That's what they do.

From a departmental perspective, the only major responsibility relates to the Department of Health and Social Services. This responsibility is manageable and I don't find it burdensome, based on the experience I've had with this portfolio on previous occasions. With the directions established in Health and Social Services, I felt it best to assume responsibility rather than place one or two new Cabinet Members in the position of finalizing, consolidating and implementing the community wellness strategy in the few months left before the fall session. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Final supplementary, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier when she is busy doing all of this other work, being the Minister of all these other portfolios, how is she handling her role as the Premier? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I find with handling a departmental responsibility is that it keeps you in touch with what is going on on a day-to-day basis. It draws you into the workings and changes in government. I believe, although it's a difficult situation in some ways, it's also very helpful. I believe it creates involvement in the actual changes in government. Thank you.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. Mr. Patterson.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I believe in the last while, in the last three and a half years, the attempt of the government has been to try to create a partnership among departments, and not be in a position where we're thinking about individual departments but are really working in partnership to see how we can put necessary components and overlapping and duplication of functions together. I see my role as being in partnership with other Cabinet Ministers. I also see my role as the responsibility to be fair to the entire Northwest Territories. That works into the partnership relationship I'm trying to build. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Maybe I can put the question another way, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier, what does she do when an important issue comes before Cabinet involving, say, a major decision involving Health, Social Services, or NWT Power Corporation? How does the Premier carry out her role as neutral chair of the Cabinet when issues involving her portfolio responsibilities come before Cabinet for decision? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, as I suggested, we have tried to build a partnership. As the Member is aware, in the areas of social well-being, we're trying to work in an envelope committee where there isn't one department that is more important than another department. We're trying to look at it in a holistic way where the community at large is focused on. I believe I've tried very hard, in working with this partnership, to instill in all Ministers that we're working collectively, not individually. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure the question was answered. The Premier is the chair of Cabinet and we know the easy decisions are made before they get to Cabinet. It's the tough decisions that go to Cabinet, where there are difficult decisions to be made and a scarcity of resources. Unfortunately, sometimes it involves competing demands; say, for example, between the social envelope, infrastructure envelope and whatever other envelope there is, like resource management.

I would like to ask the Premier not whether they all try to work together. I know they all try to work together. I would like to ask the Premier, how does she reconcile her responsibility as Premier to be a neutral chair, to mediate disputes and achieve consensus in Cabinet, when she's responsible for a sizable portion of the territorial budget and accountable for a significant number of portfolios within that Cabinet? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I guess there are two words. One is consensus, as the Cabinet operates and the other is common sense. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Supplementary, Mr. Patterson.

Well, I'm still not satisfied, Mr. Speaker. It's easy to talk about common sense and consensus, but it's another matter to implement those objects. Maybe I'll ask the Premier a slightly different question. She said earlier today in her response to Mr. Antoine that it's useful for the Premier to get day-to-day experience in the trenches, dealing with the departments she's responsible for. She's able to know what's going on in the communities by this exposure to the departmental responsibilities.

I guess I would like to ask the Premier, would she not agree that the ideal situation would be, rather than having a Premier exposed to day-to-day experiences and issues of the community and departmental levels through a select few departments, that the Premier has no departmental responsibilities and instead can gather experience in the operation of all the departments of the Government of the Northwest Territories, rather than a select few? Isn't that the ideal situation, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Madam Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I guess I live in an ideal world because there isn't one portfolio I haven't held at one time or another during my tenure in this Legislative Assembly working in Cabinet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.