Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that I was a bit surprised at the process of how this motion came to be. I think, in the past, a request such as this would have come through either the Nunavut or the Western Caucus. In Caucus discussions, Mrs. Marie-Jewell pointed out, it was agreed that the Western Caucus would meet with the aboriginal leaders to determine what the issues were that they wished to address with us and return with a recommendation. Mr. Speaker, it was only through the grapevine that I heard that the western aboriginal leaders had refused to meet with the Western Caucus. I was not given any official notice. As far as I know, there was no call for the Western Caucus to meet and decide on a course of action before this motion was introduced. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, until this morning, no one had approached me to explain why the leaders wanted to appear in committee of the whole and to tell me what the purpose was.

Mr. Speaker, this does seem to be a new approach. It's somewhat different, I guess, from the manner of consensus that we are used to. Are we now looking at inviting all elected leaders in the NWT to appear in front of committee of the whole? Have we decided that this will be a forum for all to express their views?

Mr. Speaker, out of courtesy, I will not oppose this motion, on the clear understanding that, should a motion be brought forward to bring in a leader from my community, those who support this one will also support that motion. I just think that if this is the new process, we all have to agree that that is the way it should proceed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.