Thank you, Mr. Dent. Mr. Arlooktoo.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased today to speak on behalf of my constituency, the residents of Baffin South in the communities of Sanikiluaq, Kimmirut and Cape Dorset are proud to be Canadians. I am proud to be a Canadian. I would like to say thank you to Members of our Special Committee on Unity. I support strongly the contributions of our Legislative Assembly in sending a message to the rest of Canada and especially Quebec that we believe in a united Canada. Many of my constituents have told me that they are proud to be part of a country with so many different geographies and cultures, where health care is available to all Canadians, where there are social programs to protect the vulnerable and a national government that is working to meet its historical obligations to aboriginal people.

Mr. Speaker, the people in my constituency have a special relationship with the residents of Quebec. We share health services, educational facilities, transportation links through air and marine shipping. These are critical services that are necessary for my constituency and we have many years of good working relationships with the province of Quebec. There are also family, marital and personal ties between the communities I represent and the people of northern Quebec in the Nunavik region. I was in a meeting two weeks ago in Cape Dorset where an agreement was reached to co-manage several islands in the Hudson Strait. The Islands of Nottingham, and Salisbury south of Cape Dorset are rich in polar bear, walrus and beluga and will be managed 50 percent by Nunavut residents and 50 percent by the residents of Nunavik, northern Quebec.(Translation ends)

Mr. Speaker, my closest neighbours in Baffin South are not the Keewatin or the Kitikmeot, but the people of Nunavik in northern Quebec. Nunavik covers the top third of Quebec and part of Labrador. Eight thousand fellow Inuit live in these 16 communities. As their leader, and my friend, Mr. Zebedee Nungak has said many times, the people of Nunavik want to live in a united Canada. In two consecutive referendums the Inuit of Nunavik have voted 95 percent in favour of staying in Canada.

Mr. Speaker, when the inevitable next Quebec referendum happens, I hope that resident in that province vote once and for all to stay in Canada. We do not want to see our brothers and sisters of Nunavik living in another country. In the past there have been suggestions of joining Nunavut and Nunavik to make one Territory in the event of separation. Although this idea is appealing to me, personally, it is premature to discuss at all at this point. Let us not assume that Quebecers will decide to leave Canada, rather let us put our energies into trying to convince them that this important part of Canada has a critical and welcome place in our national family.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, this Legislative Assembly is now deeply involved in division of the Northwest Territories, the creation of Nunavut, the final realization of our homemade government for the people of the eastern Arctic. This is a great example of how strong confederation can accommodate a range of historical and cultural realities. I believe we need a strong unified country to face the challenges ahead in creating a new territory and taking our place as one of the best countries in the world and with that, Mr. Speaker, I will be most pleased to vote in favour of the resolution.

--Applause

Thank you. I do not know how long Members will be talking to the motion, but how soon do we get to the orders of the day, I do not know, I would like to recognize in the gallery, Chief Rita Cli of Liidli'Koe First Nations. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also wish to support this resolution because I am proud to be a Canadian. I think it is the best country in the world to live in. Our children can grow up healthy and get a good education and our elders get pensions and are looked after in their old age. Whether a person is aboriginal or non-aboriginal, it does not matter because we can all be united in our pride of being a Canadian. We, in the north, know that the community is stronger than the individual, that by working together we are stronger as people. Mr. Speaker, to the people of Quebec, stay with Canada, stay part of the Canadian community. We Inuit are going to get the government we want in Nunavut and stay in Canada. I know that Quebec can do the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. To the motion. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you. To the motion. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, the opportunity for the people of the Northwest Territories to give our views on the Calgary Declaration and Canadian unity comes at a unique time. In less than 500 days, this territory will be divided into two. The dreams and aspirations of the people of Nunavut will at long last be fulfilled.

Within this context, the Calgary Declaration and the national unity question becomes opportunity. On April 1st, 1999, the map of Canada will be redrawn for the first time in 50 years. It will have been 50 years ago that Newfoundland and Labrador joined Canada and created a country from sea to sea to sea.

I have always been proud of my roots. My family was originally from the Island of Jersey. We are of a Norman-French background. My family has lived and continues to live in the same community, Portugal Cove, Newfoundland since the 1700's. My wife is an Inuk, from Clyde River and her ancestors have lived here for thousands of years. At our home in Iqaluit, we fly the Canadian, the Northwest Territories and the Newfoundland flags to demonstrate and celebrate our roots.

Iqaluit, my home and constituency, where my three children were born is unique. It has a large and active Francophone population. It is the largest Inuit community in Canada. The diversity of Iqaluit and our sense of community is a good model that Canadians could take a lesson from.

Mr. Speaker, the national unity question has been a political football in this country for most of the past 30 years. The election of the PQ in Quebec in 1976, the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords and the recent referendum in Quebec have held national attention. Many non-Quebecers asked, "What does Quebec want? When will the question of national unity be finally be put aside?" The apathy surrounding the responses to the Calgary Declaration demonstrates that the Canadian public, I feel are becoming tired of the debate.

Mr. Speaker, bread and butter issues of affordable housing, of jobs and our standard of living are first and foremost on much of the Canadian electorate and residents of the Northwest Territories' minds. That does not mean we are not concerned or interested in a national unity question. The Calgary Declaration agreed to by the nine premiers and the two territorial leaders, tries to give a framework of understanding of the question. However, the issue of the status of aboriginal peoples and their part in the Canadian federation seems to have been overlooked. The majority of the responses from my constituency and the territories as a whole, indicate this. Even though the Northwest Territories takes on almost one-third the land mass of Canada, main line Canadian thinking tends to be east-west and not north-south. Our motion has addressed this issue.

As a Canadian, I have had the opportunity to visit many areas of our beautiful country. I have visited Quebec and enjoyed the hospitality and friendliness of Quebecers.

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec fact in Canada should be celebrated and acknowledged. It has a unique character and culture. It is, I believe, recognized coast to coast to coast. The Canadian federation allows for this diversity and it is demonstrated everywhere you look. If you travel to Grise Fjord, the north-most community in the country, if you travel to St. John's, if you visit Vancouver as examples; all foods, general goods, et cetera, are in French and English. That is unique.

During the second world war at one of the notorious prison camps, refugees were forced to turn over their worldly goods, which was piled in a section of the camp. Mr. Speaker, the refugees, the interned people, called that pile of goods Canada. The reason being, it represented the best, something to strive for and achieve. Let us as Canadians, keep our country together without favouring a region or people over one or the other. All Canadians should and do have the same rights and responsibilities. As Canadians we are unique and we do not need declarations to tell us so. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a Canadian and a northerner and from the feedback from my constituents from Iqaluit, they also demonstrated that fact.

The Calgary Declaration does have some shortcomings, but, hopefully, it will move the national unity debate to the next stage. Finally, as a country, we will be able to move ahead, united from sea to sea to sea. I will be supporting the motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Picco. To the motion. Mr. Barnabas.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking in Inuktitut. I am also proud to be a Canadian from the Northwest Territories and an aboriginal. I am representing people from two communities who are originally from northern Quebec and I believe they would be affected by the separation of Quebec. If they wanted to go and visit their relatives in northern Quebec, they would be affected, where they would have to use passports to visit them.

The people that were transferred to high Arctic...(Translation ends).

The people from northern Quebec and people from the high Arctic area have to be united in order to survive in the harsh country of ours, especially in the northern high Arctic because there are no trees and of the way they are living was different. Because they were moved into the high Arctic, Mr. Speaker, the recognition of Canada is of a vast majority in the high Arctic, a massive land included in Canada.

I am sure if there is a border for Canada or if Quebec separated, the people from my riding would live in a really hard place, socially, economically and family-wise. Mr. Speaker, in Canada we live in a very peaceful, united country. For example, when we listen to our federal government Cabinet and when they are discussing wars, we recognize all over the world, internationally, Canada is recognized as a peace-Canada. They are always awarded for providing peace in the world. If Quebec is separated, I do not think there would be a harsh, I think there would be a lot of problems in Canada, especially for my representatives.

Mr. Speaker, (Translation) I too, would like to say that I would like to see Quebec stay in Canada and work together with Quebec and work in unity. For instance, we have worked together in Canada and if Quebec separated, this unity would be destroyed. For this reason, I will support this motion and I would like to thank the special committee that worked on this national unity, who had prepared the questionnaires and work that had to be done. Thank you. (Translation ends)

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Barnabas. To the motion Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. To the motion. Mr. Rabesca.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to support the National Unity Resolution. Today, Mr. Speaker, I rise to the challenge of unity for our great nation. In my constituency, we have a number of individuals who have over years fought in the two world wars and numerous other peace initiatives across the world to ensure our way of life in Canada is preserved. We, as a community, are proud of their efforts and feel this is what helps to distinguish us as Canadians from every other nation.

Locally, we do not talk about national unity every day. It is one of those issues that we take for granted. Being Canadian means freedom. It means being flexible. It means to be open for discussions. It means to compromise. We have strong values but at the same time, able to listen and learn. We are the peacekeepers of the world. This provides us with the great abilities to go where no other country can go. Because of the vast distances between our communities, both territorial and nationally, we do have problems. We hear eastern Canada talking about their problems, Quebec talking about theirs and the west talking of theirs. This makes for a very effective country as we have today. We need to use our skills that have proven throughout the world to make peace at home. The time is right. Let us go forward in the spirit of unity to provide a united country that speaks in one voice to our nation and to the world. To ensure our children have the same freedoms and the way of life we have today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Rabesca. To the motion. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members of this Assembly were asked to host meetings in their communities on the issue of national unity, following the Calgary Declaration adopted by the Premiers of Canada. Along with my fellow MLAs in Yellowknife, we hosted a well publicized meeting of constituencies to gain their views on this declaration. While we did receive valuable input and opinions from the handful of people who attended, it was a disappointing turnout. The turnout reaffirmed my opinion that national unity is not an issue of urgent relevance, at least not to the people in my constituency. There are currently other issues facing the people of the Northwest Territories which will have a direct impact on their future.

The main ones being the division of the territories, the creation of jobs, the price of gold. These are issues that effects their lives on a daily basis. The question of national unity seems much further away, and there is a commonality among the opinions of my constituency that people are together on national unity.

Mr. Speaker, I came to this country 27 years ago. Like me, a large percentage of present day Canadians were born elsewhere. It is from that perspective I wish that all Canadians from coast to coast to coast could say plain and simple, "I love Canada".

Mr. Speaker, I do not find it acceptable that I should have conditions on that love. Love is or should be unconditional. It is not an acceptable position to love Canada if I need something in return for that love. The late John Fitzgerald Kennedy's statement, which stated, "Ask not what my country can do for me but what I can do for my country."

Mr. Speaker, we can learn from that statement. It applies equally well to Canada as John Fitzgerald Kennedy's statement applied to the United States. Mr. Speaker, Canada gives each one of its citizens a quality of life that is the envy of the rest of the world, which is why we were voted the best country in the world to live in for a number of years. All Canadians have the obligation to ensure that Canada continues as it is today, a strong, free and vibrant prosperous community. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I love Canada. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Henry. To the motion. Mr. Antoine.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Canada is a huge country. There are ten provinces and two territories. April 1, 1999, a new territory will be created of Nunavut and we are speaking today on Canadian unity. What I would like to say is that Quebec, Quebec would like to separate. I would like to say something on that. They are speaking of a referendum so they could separate. We are trying to gather all the information about how Canadian citizens feel about Canada.

There are many lands in Canada. Canada is the envy of a lot of people. They respect Canada and Canada is a good place to raise your children. I have travelled overseas and I am anxious to return to Canada. When I return to Canada, I am overjoyed to come back. The Northwest Territories is a good place to live but there are many things that we have to work at yet. It is only by working together that we can overcome these difficulties. (Translation ends)

Canada is a very good place to live, although there are problems within our country, and I would like to believe that in Canada, we try to resolve our internal problems. That requires cooperation and coordination internally to try to resolve the existing outstanding problems we are trying to deal with. With that in mind, one of the major objectives of the NWT Resolution is to make sure that aboriginal people and their rights and interests are recognized. From the NWT's prospective, a key element of promoting national unity and preserving the federation is recognizing the aboriginal character of Canada. This means that aboriginal people were the first to inhabit and govern this country and they have special land, treaty and self-government rights that are protected by the constitution to date.

Recognition also means that aboriginal people and their governments or organizations need to be part of any process relating to national unity and the strengthening of this federation. On November 18th, the Premier and I attended the meeting between premiers and national aboriginal leaders representing the Assembly of First Nations, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, the Metis National Council, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada and the Native Women's Association of Canada. The aboriginal leaders were very forceful and effective in making a case for aboriginal involvement in the current national unity process. As a result, Premiers agreed that a framework prepared by the aboriginal leaders to govern the relationship between the aboriginal governments and peoples in the federal, provincial and territorial governments should be referred to the national unity application processes. Agreement was also reached to hold aboriginal, federal, provincial and territorial meetings to discuss social issues relating to aboriginal peoples.

Finally Premiers agreed to support an Aboriginal First Ministers' Meeting to address the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The framework presented by the national aboriginal leaders is a far reaching document dealing with the need for aboriginal people and their governments to work in partnership with federal, provincial and territorial governments. Aboriginal leaders said this partnership must be based upon the primary judicial obligations of the Government of Canada to aboriginal peoples, the inherent right of self-government and the recognition of aboriginal and treaty rights.

The Special Committee anticipated early in its mandate that the reference in the Calgary framework to aboriginal people as one part of Canada's gift of diversity would not be supported nationally or in the Northwest Territories. The Resolution being recommended to the Assembly gives more profile to the status of aboriginal peoples as the founding nations of this country and recognizes their right to self-government. The Resolution reflects the input we received in responses to questionnaires about the Calgary framework. While most Northwest Territories' residents were satisfied with the way in which aboriginal issues were addressed in the Calgary framework, this support was qualified. Many people felt that an Assembly resolution needs to put more emphasis on the aboriginal characteristics of Canada and their rights and interests guaranteed in the constitution.

The Special Committee also gives special consideration to receiving reaction from the Northwest Territories aboriginal leadership. Although Aboriginal Summit leaders felt that our process is too rushed, they preferred some amendments to the National Unity Resolutions which the Special Committee has agreed to.

The leader of Nunavut Tunngavik supports the Assembly's Resolution as well as the Dene of the Deh Cho First Nation and as a Canadian, I firmly believe that the aboriginal characteristics of Canada are an essential element of the national unity package. I also believe that the Northwest Territories can play a strong role in ensuring that aboriginal characteristics of Canada are reflected in the national unity package. Finally, I agree with the Premier, that we have to move early and quickly to have maximum effect on the resolutions of other jurisdictions. In my constituency, many residents have said that they do not want to see Quebec separate. They have also said that all people and all governments including Quebec and aboriginal nations need to work together for our future generations.

I also heard that the Calgary framework does not accurately reflect the historical and contemporary status of aboriginal people in Canada. Aboriginal people are unique in this country because they were the first to inhabit and govern what is now Canada. This is why aboriginal peoples have special rights under the Canadian constitution. Dene and Metis people have struggled a long time to get where they are today and I am pleased that the Northwest Territories Resolution recognizes the struggle and their special rights and status.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues in this House to speak about how they and their constituents feel about our great country and to unanimously support in the vote of the National Unity Resolution before the House today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Antoine. To the motion. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I think of Canada, I do not imagine a large geographic mass consisting of different regions or provinces such as Quebec. I think of Canada as people, their friendliness, their compassion, a sense of fairness and the desire to share with those who have less. Our various regions naturally have different concerns, but as Canadians we will work them out by listening and not by using force or intimidation. Canadians have always been a family. We do not blame people for their place of birth, instead we welcome them into our extended family and as a result of that diversity a respect for others has earned us an enviable reputation around the world. Like all families, Canada has some bullies. But as a family, we must stand up and remind other Canadians that no one member has the right to more of a share then the other. We have moved on and perhaps up, since the statements, like, "let them freeze in the dark". Canadians as a whole have never stooped to the level of wanting anyone, whether they live in Cape Breton Island or in Arviat in the Northwest Territories, to freeze or to be without. Mr. Speaker, Canada is about sharing and remaining together as one. Vive le Canada! Mahsi cho, Monsieur le President.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. O'Brien. To the motion. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too, would like to speak in favour of the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the people of the Northwest Territories do not see unity as a priority at this time. Unfortunately, a lot of people are looking at putting bread and butter on the table and at issues that are more closely dear to their hearts. However, this is not an easy issue that we have to deal with. Should this country split? There could be serious ramifications. First, of course, there would be economic ramifications which would affect us socially. There would be less money for programs, less money for the type of government that we want.

Mr. Speaker, this is a great country. Yes, things are not perfect, but I think we have it pretty good. We have constitutionally protected rights. We have freedom of speech, freedom of mobility, people can travel anywhere they want in this country without being stopped. We have protection against discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability. Our constitution also recognizes and affirms aboriginal and treaty rights. Those rights of course are not defined, but they are protected. There is still a long way to go in this area, but I do not believe there is any other country in the world that recognizes and affirms aboriginal treaty rights in their constitution.

Yes, we do have many people who are disadvantaged, but we have the network, the social network. There is social assistance for people who need it, which supplies basic food and shelter. In the north we also provide housing, social housing and homeownership programs. Those homeownership programs go a long way further then they do in south. People are guaranteed education. We have free education up to grade 12. In fact, it is against the law not to go to school up to the age of 16. After 16, I suppose you are on your own. In the area of post secondary education, our government provides grants, loans, forgivable loans for long-term residents and that used to be Canada Student Loans are repayable loans as well. We also have minimum wages, in fact every province in Canada has minimum wages based on their cost of living.

Mr. Speaker, Canada was voted the best country in the world to live for the past four years. This was done by the countries in the United Nations. One Francophone person I know said he has travelled out of this country and people asked him if we were crazy. We were trying to split up the best country in the world to live in. He said he did not know what to respond to people who asked him questions. He feels very strongly that this country should stay together. As I said, we still have a ways to go. Aboriginal people in particular have a long way to go to bring their standards of living up to the rest of Canadians. Aboriginal people have the lowest education rates, highest drop-out rates, highest unemployment, highest rates of social assistance and depending on which statistics a person uses, aboriginal people live six to nine years less than non-aboriginal people. We also have high mortality rates for babies, high suicide rates. We have long outstanding land and treaty claims and we are still negotiating self-government.

Recently the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples put out the report. This commission took a long time to look into these issues. They did many studies. They have made many recommendations to deal with the problems of aboriginal people that I have mentioned. They have recommended that the federal, provincial and territorial governments pour millions of dollars into education, to housing and to help with social and health problems. This is so aboriginal people can take their rightful place in society.

Mr. Speaker, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Report is a long report and it has taken a long time to respond from the federal government. Having a federal election recently did not help matters, but I understand the federal government is poised to respond in the new year and this government, the Government of the Northwest Territories, is prepared to help the Government of Canada to respond to the Royal Commission's recommendations to help improve education, to help improve economic, health and social conditions of northern aboriginal people. Mr. Speaker, if we could do it alone, we would, but we cannot. We need federal dollars.

At a recent constituency meeting that all the Yellowknife MLAs had here at the Great Hall, there was a small turnout on the unity issue, but there was good discussion. The other Yellowknife MLAs have already touched on this meeting. I just wanted to indicate that there was general support for the intent of the Calgary Framework for keeping Quebec within this country of Canada. There was the feeling that perhaps the clauses in the framework were divisive rather then unifying; could be taken as divisive by Quebecers, but in general, people said they want Quebec to remain. I agree. It was not the best wording in the world, and it still is not, but the intent is to show Quebec that we want them to stay in Canada. The intent is not to analyze how every word is put together and to obtain perfection.

Mr. Speaker, I have not travelled out of Canada that extensively, but this is a world of instantaneous communications and I do know world conditions. I have seen many times on television people travelling hundreds of kilometres because of drought or other natural disasters. You see people, dusty people, on foot, carrying their children, carrying their belongings. Other times, you see children starving in their mother's arms. Other times you see rampaging tribesmen wiping out whole villages because of religious tribal warfare. Other places, like China, you see tanks rolling over demonstrating university students. South America, Indian people in the rain forests are hunted down and killed, so that people can develop their land. We hear people testifying that street children are killed at night because they are bothering the street merchants. In many places of the world, you see elected governments overthrown by the military soon after they are elected. For decades, we have seen a country where bombing their innocent countrymen has become an everyday affair.

Mr. Speaker, yes, Canada has its problems, but when we look at the situation in other countries that I have described, our problems are nothing, nothing. We basically have a good life. What we are striving for is to make that life better and I do not wish to see it get worse. Mr. Speaker, if Quebec leaves Canada, life in the Northwest Territories and Canada will get worse. There will be less money for education, health, housing and our other problems. Our people will be worse off. The Northwest Territories will be worse off and Canada will be worse off. Mr. Speaker, I do not want Quebec to leave Canada, rather, I want Canada to remain to be the best country in the world to live in. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. To the motion. Mr. Miltenberger.