I do, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, over the past several days, a number of concerns have been expressed to the Members of the Assembly on some aspects of this bill. I can understand the concerns that have been raised and the emotion of the debate around the bill. These issues have been raised to me by my constituents in a petition that I tabled earlier today. Mr. Chairman, I''d like to take this opportunity to clarity the purpose of the bill and perhaps clear up some of the misinformation surrounding certain aspects of it.

One of the concerns raised is that this bill is being fast-tracked through the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Chairman, this government is entering into negotiations on a collective agreement with the union that represents our employees. This bill sets a clear framework to support the negotiating process as it places full responsibility for collective bargaining with the parties. The importance of having this framework in place at the beginning of negotiations cannot be overstated. Negotiations are expected to be difficult.

As both the Premier and I have stated on several occasions, the government is facing a $150 million deficit in 1996-97 if no action is taken to bring expenditures in line with revenues

Mr. Chairman, it's been suggested over the past several days that the government is planning to deal with our budget reductions solely on the backs of our employees. This is simply not the case. All expenditures must and will be considered to meet our budget reduction targets. Wage and benefit reductions are only one area being considered. We're also reviewing all of our capital and program expenditures.

It's also important to note, Mr. Chairman, that any reductions in wages and benefits packages will affect all employee groups alike. This means that both unionized and non-unionized employees, our management employees, and, yes, Mr. Chairman, Members of this Legislative Assembly. I also would like to stress that the budget reductions will affect all other people in the Northwest Territories who depend on government programs. It will affect social program clients, it will affect businesses, it will affect students, and it will affect those who are not fortunate enough to have jobs. It is the responsibility of the Members of the Assembly to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and equitably, including our employees.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to address some of the specific aspects of the bill. One, the ability to change terms and conditions of employment and the right to strike, It is standard for the employer to have the ability to change terms and conditions of employment and employees to have the right to strike if reasonable efforts at negotiations do not result in a new collective agreement. The Canadian Labour Code, has such provisions. Also, other unionized employers and employees in the NWT fall under the Canadian Labour Code.

The time lines for negotiation: The bill provides as much time as the parties require for negotiation. It also sets out a process similar to legislation elsewhere such as the Canadian Labour Code to ensure that reasonable effort is made to negotiate collective agreements. This includes the assistance of a mediator who is skilled in helping the parties with collective bargaining difficulties. Only after negotiations have broken down, mediation has failed, and the collective agreement has expired can the employer change the terms and conditions of employment and employees take strike action. The time lines following the mediator's report is intended to provide a cooling off period, Mr. Chairman.

The bargaining unit definition on exclusions, which is a big issue: It's important that the bargaining units be clearly defined to avoid conflicts and misunderstanding about who has a right to strike. Bargaining unit exclusions are employees who perform management duties for the employer and who support, Assist, and advise the government on the legislative, executive, and management functions. Under binding arbitration it was not as critical as under the right to strike to clearly identify appropriate exclusions for these functions. agreement with the union that represents our employees. This Change to the exclusions: This bill would increase the number of exclusions by approximately six per cent --and I stress, six per cent. Mr. Chairman, the Union of Northern Workers has raised a number of concerns on this issue and have publicly stated that this bill could exclude up to 35 per cent of employees from the bargaining units. We have met with representatives of the UNW to address their concerns and tried to incorporate significant changes to the wording of the bill to alleviate some of these concerns. While I recognize that we have not gone as far as the UNW wanted, I believe we have moved a significant amount to address the concern raised.

Further, Mr. Chairman, I will make a public commitment today to table in the House at our next sitting in March, a listing of the exclusions that will be made subject to the passage of this bill. I am confident that the number of exclusions will be within the additional six per cent that I have mentioned earlier.

Essential and emergency services: Some employees perform duties that are essential to the prevention of danger to life and destruction of equipment. These employees may be members of the bargaining unit but may not participate in a strike. They will not be required to perform management functions; mainly to provide the services that are designated as essential. The objective will be to designate only those positions that are truly essential or perform emergency services and where possible, employees who are excluded from a bargaining unit will perform essential emergency services. The bill sets out a process for the parties to decide who performs essential and emergency services and includes arbitration to resolve disagreements.

Mr. Chairman, it is critically important to emphasize that these amendments set the stage for the parties to achieve reasonable negotiated agreements. It's our commitment to negotiate, not legislate, a collective agreement that drives this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.