Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I spent some time on Friday going over the reasons for my motion. I appreciate the fact that the Members now agree with me on the need for Sanikiluaq, because of its remoteness, transportation links, et cetera, the need for them to have their own seat. I appreciate and thank them for that.

The other part of the motion had to do with Whale Cove and a decision needed to be made on the constituency issue, which constituency Whale Cove would belong to. As Mr. Todd pointed out, there is no chance for the community to have its own seat, even though the Mayor has suggested that is their wish. There is no chance of that. The next question would be where do you put Whale Cove? Who do you pair Whale Cove with? I spent some time on Friday trying to explain that Arviat was the most logical choice; population wise, distance wise, family ties, culturally, demographically, the whole works. I did make some effort in talking to the people in Whale Cove and Arviat recently. I was on the phone this morning with Mr. Stanley Arjook, the Mayor of Whale Cove, and explained to him what my motion was and why. I wanted to make it very clear to him that I was as concerned as he was in making sure that Whale Cove gets its due consideration or attention from the MLAs in the Nunavut Legislature, as it always has. I also spent some time on the phone this morning with my old friend Peter Kritaqliluk, the Mayor of Arviat. I have known Peter for many years and developed a fairly close personal relationship with him. I have watched for many years his involvement in the regional and Nunavut wide politics, and I have respect for him. Again, I spent some time with him explaining what my motion was and received some reaction from him. I will not go into a lot of detail but to reiterate the fact that we do need to make a decision today. We need to vote on this motion, which deals with the question of the electoral boundary for Whale Cove and Arviat.

I know there are people in Arviat who desire to have only one MLA for their own community and the same concerns are coming out of one of my own communities, Cape Dorset. In fact, I believe that one of my constituents called up another MLA this morning and expressed that thought. The Mayor of Cape Dorset called me to say that he has also received three calls from Cape Dorset residents that they too would like their own seat. We have to make a decision.

I realize that Cape Dorset may deserve its own seat. We have a similar population as Arviat. We have as many unemployment problems. Our population growth is very high. Then again, you have to think about the community next door, Kimmirut, it is a similar situation. However, there is a couple hundred more people than Whale Cove. It is even a further distance than it is between Whale Cove and Arviat. In fact, Cape Dorset and Kimmirut have no direct transportation links. I, as the MLA from that area and being given the responsibility of making a decision, will go against some of the wishes of the people of Cape Dorset and say this is the most logical way to do it. Cape Dorset and Kimmirut have to stay together. That is the opinion of the majority of the people I spoke to over the summer.

With that, I believe the MLAs need to make a logical choice and make a decision now. What would more consultation result in? You would still have the problem of not being able to give Whale Cove its own seat. It does not make any sense for Whale Cove and Rankin Inlet to be together, so Arviat is the next logical choice.

With that, I thank Members that have expressed support on this issue and hope they will be around for the vote. Thank you.