Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the name of the seconder of the motion was called, it was Mr. Steen from Nunakput. I am sure it could have been anyone from this House and anyone would have been more than pleased to second the motion, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest things that we have in this country that I am proud of - I am sure everyone in the country, everyone in the Nunavut area and everyone in the western area of the northwest area of the NWT is proud of - is their freedom, a freedom to move around, a freedom to be a part of any party you want to be in a country, a freedom to follow a religion of your choice, a freedom to choose the community where you want to live without having to use the passports.
One other thing that I talked to people from my area that we are concerned about of this country is what happens if Quebec separates. Would I be able to visit my brothers, sisters and cousins from northern Quebec without the use of passports? I do not know. Mr. Speaker, when I travel to three of my communities, there are times that the young people come to me and talk to me about the country. There are times when the elders come to me and talk to me about what we saw on the television, what is going on in the other countries. Mr. Speaker, when I talk to my grandchildren, my kids and my family, we talk about how lucky we are to live in a country such as Canada. As Mr. Premier, indicates we can move around the country freely. Freedom, there is nothing I will not compromise my freedom for anything else. I am sure that no one from this country would. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the family, in the unity of a family, there is strength. In the unity of a family there is understanding. In a unity of a family there is a freedom to move around your community to another community to another jurisdiction. Mr. Speaker, every year we celebrate the 1st of July. What makes me proud to be a Canadian is that during that time of celebration, the 1st of July, I will see a little one, the youngest person in a community, able to hold a Canadian flag, from that to the oldest person in the community. Does that little child understand? Perhaps not because he is too young to understand. It is the eldest in the community to understand what it means to be Canadian. Perhaps that person is a little forgetful during that time, but they are holding that flag.
In most cases in our community, we talk about the country during the 1st of July. Every person who talks about the country appreciates being a part of the country. Mr. Speaker, before this session when I travelled to Taloyoak, Gjoa Haven and I am from Pelly, I was on the radio about what was to take part in this special session. I am sure because I spoke the languages of the three communities, I am sure people understood. There were times walking down the street that people told me they are proud to be part of this country.
Mr. Speaker, come 1999, we in Nunavut area, will have a Nunavut government. We will remain part of the country. We will be Canadian. We will be part of the country we call Canada. I am not going to make a long speech because I could go on and on, like Mr. Premier said. You know what really made me understand how I am proud to be Canadian? I had two occasions to travel abroad. One was to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and one to Denmark in Copenhagen. There were many people travelling with us. When we produced our Canadian passports, I could see the reaction of the customs official, hey Canadian move on. That is how appreciated people are from another country. We have provided assistance to third world countries. We have seen how the Canadian people will work together, not only to help the people in Canada but to help the people in other countries who are suffering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.