Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to inform the House this morning about my meeting this week with the Prime Minister in Ottawa.
The Prime Minister and I met Wednesday afternoon, in the Prime Minister's office on Parliament Hill, to discuss a number of issues of relevance both to Canada and the Northwest Territories. I found the discussion to be very productive and I am confident that our exchange established a strong foundation for future meetings.
The most important aspect of our discussion focused upon the creation of two new viable political jurisdictions in the North with the creation of Nunavut and a new Western Territory in April of 1999.
I informed the Prime Minister that planning for the development of these two new territories is proceeding reasonably well; however, there are areas of concern which will require attention in the coming weeks and months. in the western part of the Northwest Territories, a considerable amount of work remains to be done to ensure that the new government in the West will have a proper and sufficient constitutional base by April of 1999. 1 informed the Prime Minister that we will require the support and assistance of his government in making certain that all necessary work will be completed in the very short time remaining to us before division takes place.
With respect to Nunavut, I had a blunt and forthright conversation with the Prime Minister about where we are at the present time. I told him that I understand the financial circumstances of the country are difficult, but I felt that Nunavut requires a greater level of support than what is contemplated by the recently-announced federal decisions on infrastructure for Nunavut. I pointed out to the Prime Minister the irony of plans to have the federal Department of Public Works involved in building infrastructure for Nunavut when the Government of the Northwest Territories is a recognized leader internationally on building in the North. The Prime Minister understood the point very well and this government will be pursuing that matter in the coming weeks.
Overall, Mr. Speaker, the discussions with the Prime Minister were very positive and I am confident that we will have his support in addressing concerns of the North as we move towards division. Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
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