Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be brief. I do have problems with the proposed amalgamation. It has been my experience and the experience of my two communities of Arviat and Baker Lake have only seen pain from the other amalgamations that have been carried out. As I mentioned earlier today, there were five positions that were taken out of Baker Lake when the Health and Social Services were amalgamated. In RWED, we also lost some ground there and it is my feeling that we would also suffer from the proposed amalgamation of these departments. At this point in time, it is not something I can support. I think we should leave it for the new Nunavut government to deal with.

Furthermore, again I am going back to some of the other departments that were amalgamated in my area, the amalgamation seemed to be carried out on the backs of the smaller have-not communities. The benefits seemed to run downhill to the regional centres. Until there is a re-focusing of where the benefits are going to go, it is difficult for me to support this amalgamation, or any others that take away from the smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.