Qujannamiik, Liqaqfli. (Microphone turned off) month of our term and the time has passed extremely fast. I came in as a neophyte and, while I'm far from an expert, I am more experienced now. Like all the other MLAs, I jumped into the fray right at the start; I joined committees, I've diligently attended all sorts of briefing sessions, I've participated in the evolving of our mandate to govern, helping select a Premier and a Cabinet, reviewed the departmental business plans, et cetera. It's been a busy time. As a matter of fact, it's been too busy. The reality is we've done so much that it's been hard to find the time for

me to sit down and write about all the matters that I should review here. I will stick to those that are extremely important to me.

The Deficit

This has consumed six months of our time. I'm glad we have this budget out of the way because this has been all consuming and it is now time for us all to deal with economic development and opportunities. As the Minister of Finance knows, I'm not happy with the projected deficit elimination plan. It is my estimate that we will go into the new territories in 1999 with a deficit of $100 million. That is not acceptable to me. With the next budget, I will demand that the deficit be lowered.

Community Empowerment

While I am in agreement with empowering communities if they so desire, I'm of the opinion that community empowerment is a program that, over time, will be forced on communities. This was not the intent when it was first discussed. However, what I was told yesterday was that community empowerment is inevitable. It seems that eventually we will have only a skeleton public service to support those communities that do not want to run their own services. It is my opinion that community empowerment is fluff, with an implementation plan that has not been thoroughly thought out.

Accountability

Last week, I voted in favour of Ed Picco's motion to release all information on sole-source and negotiated contracts. To me, this motion was more than a symbolic gesture that we need more accountability and openness.

Business Incentive Policy

Affirmative Action

I have asked for this report consistently. It is too late now to debate this in this House during this session because I don't have the report. The affirmative action policy has some real problems with it. It doesn't work. It needs to be fixed. I have constituents who have encountered real problems because of this skewed policy. In order for us to deal with important issues like the BIP and affirmative action in this House, we need these reports. For me, these kinds of delays are not acceptable.

Constitution

We are in the process of designing a constitution for the Western Arctic. The time frame for the draft constitutional package will be about three months. I have been told and led to believe by all those who are participants in this process that, when it comes to ratification of the constitution, it will be put before the people of the Western Arctic on the basis of one person/one vote.

Mortgage Investment Corporation

I am aware of the need for housing in the North and the MIC is a means by which to solve some of these problems. However, I voted against the motion to approve funds for the MIC because, amongst all the things, I couldn't receive assurances that there would be long-term restrictions against use of this money for commercial loans.

MIA Compensation

The vehicles of communication in the Territories have been used over the past several months to comment about the MLA compensation package and the Report of the Commission on MLA Compensation. During my election campaign, there was one issue; that was MLA pensions. Since then, the number of issues seems to have grown to three: pensions, salaries and accountability. As Mrs. Groenewegen said earlier today, this matter will be deferred until the fall. However, I would like to say a few words with regard to salaries and pensions.

Two months ago, we rolled back our salaries and benefits by seven per cent. After the seven per cent roll-back, my salary is $55,413. I see we have an empty House just about, Mr. Speaker, but I am more than willing to carry on because I think other people will be listening.

---Applause

Hey, you folks out there, there are a lot of employees in these buildings who serve this government who make more than that, a lot more than that. The average Hay Plan employee is $82,736. I have 12 years of senior government administration experience and 20 years of business experience. If I had stayed in the government, I would be making more than $100,000 plus per year

---Applause

...because that's what the person who inherited my job was making when he retired. So, let me repeat that my salary is $55,413. In addition, I will probably make another $10,000 to $14,000 for committee work, for a total of $65,000 to $69,000. The Commission on MLA Compensation recommended a flat salary of $71,000, so I have accepted a salary less than the recommended amount.

I have changed my mind about payment for committee meetings. I think we should be remunerated for them. All Members sit on committees, some on two or three, plus extra ones like the constitution committees which seem to go on forever into the night. Those aren't paid for by anybody; we just volunteer for those. In the workforce, if you receive extra responsibilities or are required to work overtime, you get extra pay; whether you are a supervisor, a manager, an electrician, a plumber or a foreman. You get paid extra for over-time or extra responsibilities. Well, we get extra pay for committee work.