Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In order to put this mid-term review in context for me, I want to focus not only on the road we have already travelled as an Assembly, but the road we have yet to travel. If you keep that in mind, this mid-term review, is in fact, in my opinion about a two-third review, because in about a year, the eastern Members will be gearing up to go on a hustings, and run for election. So very clearly it changes the focus in my mind.

We have in fact, dealt with the deficit. It was not simply the deficit we dealt with. We dealt with the issue of too much government, government restructuring and the fact that the government can no longer be the engine of growth in the Northwest Territories. So it is not just an issue of cutting. There is a tremendous change that goes with that, and we have paid a price. In Fort Smith, the community that I represent, there were about 70 jobs lost plus all the accompanying program cuts. I know that our community was not alone, so our communities are hurting and struggling to cope.

The one saving grace or the one commitment we can make out of this whole process is that it had to be done, and we have to ensure as politicians that this never happens again. We have done it, but we cannot afford to repeat it. If we do, in my opinion we have broken trust and all this suffering is for naught.

Overall, I think we did take the steps, we did make mistakes, but we did meet that particular goal. We have also done things that I think bear some notice in the area of legislation. We took a seven year process with the family law bill, and we brought that to conclusion or we will be very soon with the completion of the Adoption Act. We have done some good work in municipal legislation. Of course, for me, I am pleased to see the work that has been done on the Election Act.

As we have attempted to cope with the deficit, we have tried with healthy children initiatives, with Northern Employment Strategies and with focus on community development, trying to have community-directed income support, community-based justice initiatives and trying to increase home care. We have made, however imperfect, attempts not to do things on the backs of the poor.

I think also, it should be noted, at least in the west, where this has probably been more of an ongoing issue, from what I can see and what I know about the past, the relationships that we have had with aboriginal governments are probably better than they have been in the past. We are working. However you want to describe the constitutional process, we are working at that process. We are working on the Western Coalition in terms of formula financing. So I think that is well deserved recognition.

We are weak in some areas. The issue of division. We came into this Assembly, knowing we are behind and in fact I believe we still are behind. I do not think it is an issue that can be ignored. It is going to be one of two main issues that we have to deal with for the rest of our time together.

I think it is incumbent upon us, both east and west, to do everything in our power to put the pieces in place to, in fact, ensure there is a smooth transition. But very clearly, once we pass the next budget, this Assembly as we know it, is going to be changing dramatically, and it will be changing along east and west lines, as we start moving towards our own jurisdictions and trying to put the pieces in place for April 1, 1999.

I think as an Assembly and as a government, we have to also acknowledge we did not do and have not done as good a job as we can or could have in the area of communications. We were slow off the mark, and I think we created a lot of our own problems by how we handled our communication, not only with the public, but with our own staff.

It cost us, in terms of credibility. A lot of the good work we did do, I think went by unnoticed. It made it difficult to get out the message in a coherent way. I know we are working on that, but if we look in the past, I think it is an area we were weak.

We also have to deal with the continued shroud of secrecy that tends to surround a lot of business we do as a government. What we see in the House is only one small part of the business of government. I am still of the opinion that we could easily open up some of our committee processes, where the most meaningful debate takes place to let the people see what people are talking about, how we struggle with issues. Unfortunately, I have raised this issue a number of times and people tend to recoil back at the very thought. I do not think it is anything to be scared of.

The committee system as we know it, Mr. Chairman, is drawing to a close, and in my opinion is tied into the budget process that is coming up and the move towards division and our colleagues from the east going out for election on the hustings. I think this exercise is a commitment we made and does have a function, but I think we have to keep in mind it is important not to focus too long on looking in the rear view mirror because the road ahead of us is filled with turns, twists and possible pot holes. If we do not keep our eye on that road, yet to be travelled, we could end up doing an injustice to the people that we represent.

As we move ahead with division, which is a broader political issue for two territories, we have to continue to try to focus on the lives and quality of life, of the people in our communities. They should not be impacted by the whole division process which is a broader issue at a higher level. We have to ensure we work as hard as necessary and divert all the funds possible into the areas dealing with social programs and above all, economic development. When you have jobs, people are working and there is money to be spent; social problems go down.

So I look forward to the upcoming year ahead of us, but I think we have to acknowledge and keep our eye on the road yet to be travelled. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

--Applause