Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories as we know it is changing quickly. Yellowknife, as the capital city, must embrace those changes. I have been in politics for 17 years and there have been tremendous changes here in Yellowknife. The infrastructure that is in place now, the opportunities that are in place now in Yellowknife are so much greater than they were 17 years ago.
A lot of people who ave worked very hard in building Yellowknife deserve a lot of credit for the effort that has gone Into it. Today we have a city that we can be very proud of and a city that has no equal for its size anywhere in the country.
I hear criticisms from some people in Yellowknife. Some don't think they are well looked after. They don't think that they have everything that they want. But the reality is, Mr. Speaker, most of those criticisms come from people who have just come to Yellowknife in recent years. Those who have been here a long time recognize the support that Yellowknife has had from the Legislative Assembly and from successive governments in order to build that infrastructure. Yellowknife has done very well by this Legislative Assembly over the years. I just wanted to put that on the public record.
The face of Yellowknife is changing rapidly. I would say that close to 25 per cent of the population today is aboriginal, and probably by the year 2000 closer to 50 per cent of the Yellowknife population will be aboriginal. Young people tend to gravitate towards larger centres, so I see the political dynamics in the western Arctic changing significantly over the next five to 10 years, where aboriginal people will start to embrace Yellowknife as their city.
As I said, over the years, Yellowknife MLAs, with the support of this Assembly, have been able to bring a lot of infrastructure into Yellowknife, have been able to protect jobs in Yellowknife; but times are changing, Mr. Speaker. Division, the impending federal government cutbacks and the stronger regions in the western Arctic will bring sweeping changes to the structure and size of government across the territories, especially here in Yellowknife.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.