(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