Thank you Mr. Speaker. My statement today is on the Draft Constitution Package that is being presented to the public for review and comment. Mr. Speaker, during my campaign last year, I went through the Yellowknife North riding. I heard many times that people were afraid that Yellowknife was going to become an isolated state, isolated from the rest of the west. Many of these people are long term northerners, others were not, but all of them recognized that Aboriginal people have the inherent right to govern themselves, this is a right of all people, it is an international law. These people were afraid that regional self-government negotiations would result in strong regional governments. Maybe, it would even split the west into several territories. These people are afraid the system described in the Bourque report could result in Yellowknife being isolated from the communities. They were talking about the "we", "they", "us", "them" syndrome. This summer and into late last night, I worked on this Constitution Package. I worked to bring Aboriginal self-government and public government together into a central government in hopes that it would not result in an isolated Yellowknife, and Yellowknife being a state unto itself. Mr Speaker, this is not a perfect document, but it is the starting point that people said they wanted.
People said that never before had this Assembly prepared a draft constitution for them to discuss. We have done that. There is a draft constitution for people to review. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.