Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to make my reply to the Commissioner's address for some time, and I have indicated to the Members that it is going to be a fairly lengthy one, so feel free, when you think we need a break, to give us a break.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, this, as some other Members have pointed out, is one time in this House when we can comment on broader issues that are important to the people of our constituency and also to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, I want to comment on a number of those broader issues as well as certain matters that will be of particular concern to the people of Fort Smith. I also want to reflect on the last four years to take a look at what we, as an Assembly, and what I, as a Member, wanted to achieve and what we, as an Assembly, were able to achieve. Now that we are close to concluding what is likely to be the last session of the 12th Legislative Assembly, it's a good time to reflect on exactly what we have accomplished and to identify priorities that still need to be met.
I will also be commenting about my decision to leave the Speaker's chair, a decision that I felt personally was quite difficult, at times, for me to make, and about the government's action that prompted this decision on my part. As well, Mr. Speaker, I want to share my assessment of the Cabinet and its performance and to briefly review the successes and failures of several government departments. And, before closing, I want to do what my honourable colleague from Yellowknife North has done on a couple of occasions and highlight a few transition issues that will be important for the new Legislative Assembly to address following the fall election.
Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of the current term of this Assembly, it is a good time to think back over our past four years as Members of this House, and no one can deny that those four years have certainly been eventful ones. I can recall sometimes the enthusiasm that surrounded our first few months as Members were sworn in. The Executive Council, the Cabinet, was selected for the first time with the leadership committee process that took our deliberations out of the back rooms of the Caucus from the last Assembly that I was first elected to, and into the full view of the public. Then committees were formed and began doing their important work. I don't know if there has ever been more work or substantial work carried out in the Northwest Territories Legislature. During the first couple of years alone, there were major initiatives undertaken by standing committees to review the Workers' Compensation Board, to review a major report with regard to the Department of Health and to revise and update the rules of the Legislative Assembly. In addition, we also had the report of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services.
So when people look back at the 12th Assembly, Mr. Speaker, not only will they remember this Assembly as building the new building, but they will also recall that this was the term when bills were first reviewed in the standing committee, reviewed in the public, mainly by the Standing Committee on Legislation, with interested groups and individuals given an opportunity to attend and to participate in public hearings, not behind closed doors as in previous Assemblies. They will recall that this was the term when they finally saw the long-awaited passage of access to information and protection of privacy legislation; certainly a goal, I believe, to which you contributed greatly during the time you sat as an ordinary Member. They will also recall the Members of this Assembly took great strides in adopting a code of conduct and making a declaration of zero tolerance for violence. They'll remember the feeling of satisfaction when we finally moved to this new home in this building and of significant changes. However, I did want to address that further on in my reply.
So, Mr. Speaker, when northerners look back on the 12th Assembly, they'll remember some of these positive and significant accomplishments that we have made. These are accomplishments which reflect the continuing political evolution of the Northwest Territories, and they are achievements in which I believe all Members can take some pride.
At the same time, though, people will also remember the 12th Assembly for a number of other reasons. They'll recall the frequent turnover of Cabinet Ministers as one failure after another; note-passing incidents; misleading comments in the House; legal difficulties and so on which led to endless portfolio shuffles and the replacement of Ministers. Regrettably, they may even call some of the events that have arisen from the action of individual Ministers, and I have numbered some of them, at many times even within the Caucus. The people of the north, I know, will remember the growing fiscal deficit, the missed financial projection and the payroll tax that we have created. They may look at the last four years as a period in which the federal government and the rest of Canada began to lose some of its fascination with northern development, and they may wonder why more wasn't done to enhance our profile at the national level to make more progress in resolving fiscal irritants and federal funding arrangements or to contribute towards the development of aboriginal self-government.
The last four years certainly have been eventful ones, and I am certain that each Member of this House will have his or her own memories and recollections. For myself, Mr. Speaker, I know that I will remember this Assembly for a number of reasons, not the least which is the honour of being selected by my colleagues to serve this House as Speaker, because I know when I first assumed the Speaker's chair, many people expressed some surprise towards me and they basically asked the question, why would I be even remotely interested in removing myself from debates in the committees and from question period in order to become Speaker? Certainly, that question was never hard for me to answer. As we sit as Members, we know the parliamentary traditions, the rules and conventions and the progress of responsible government in the north became important, and I certainly recognize the importance of the Speaker's chair as one who guards these traditions and who guides the life of this House. You know as well as I know, Mr. Speaker, to be elected by one's peers as the person to take on those important responsibilities is something that is meaningful to any parliamentarian, and when this House expressed its confidence in my ability to serve as Speaker, I was certainly honoured. As well, I took some pride in the fact that this was the first time in Canadian history that an aboriginal woman had assumed Speaker's chair. I think that it was an important message for this House to send to the people of the Northwest Territories and to Canadians everywhere.