Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. I would like to inform the House that the Member for Hay River, Mrs. Groenewegen, will be absent from the House for the next few days because of the death of her father, Mr. Robert Ostler. I would like to offer condolences on behalf of all Members to Mrs. Groenewegen and her family in this difficult time. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Ootes. Deputy Premier, Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker, I also would like to offer condolences, on behalf of the government, to Mrs. Groenewegen and her family on the death of her father. Our prayers and wishes are with her and her family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Arlooktoo. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mr. Arlooktoo.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the Aboriginal Achievement Awards, 1000 aboriginal students from across Alberta were gathered in Calgary earlier this month for a career trade show. The 14 recipients of the achievement awards were asked to speak to the students about their lives, about issues important to them and, in some cases, to demonstrate their talents. Mr. Kiawak Ashoona constituent of mine from Cape Dorset who received an achievement award, was asked to demonstrate to these young people how he carves and to talk about how he is inspired to create something so beautiful from a piece of soapstone. The carving you see here in the Chamber today, is a result of that.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Arlooktoo. Members' statements. Ms. Thompson.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity late last week to participate in the 1997 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in Calgary. As I previously mentioned, I was deeply moved by what I saw there. The celebration of achievements of the past and of the present gives me a lot of hope for the future of aboriginal people.

Mr. Speaker, since the achievement awards, I have been thinking a lot about what the future holds for the aboriginal people and, more specifically, about what lies ahead for Inuit with the creation of Nunavut. This is a time of great promise for us and for everyone who will be part of Nunavut. It is also a time when I believe we need to be careful about what we build and how we build it.

In this regard, Mr. Speaker, I have been disappointed by recent developments on the road to Nunavut. I have hesitated now for more than a week about commenting on recent statements made by the Chief Commissioner of the Nunavut Implementation Commission and by the President of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, about Members of this Assembly.

Mr. Amagoalik, who we all respect for the important role he has played in helping Nunavut move beyond idea to reality, made statements on CBC in late January in which he went out of his way to say that "Pudlanak tend to get confused. Some are very easily confused." He made this comment in relation to MLAs which, in my view, showed great disrespect for this Assembly and for our Members elected to serve here. This is very disappointing to me.

Mr. Speaker, as we move towards Nunavut, we must do what we can to make sure the foundation we construct our future on is strong. Attacking people on the basis of race and promoting intolerance can only weaken those foundations, and put at risk our future as a strong, tolerant and just society. Mr. Amagoalik knows full well that aboriginal people, including Inuit, have too often been on the wrong end of prejudice and racism. Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude my statement.

The Member for Aivilik is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Ms. Thompson, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Becoming the majority does not give us the right to abuse those who will find themselves in minority. For me, Mr. Speaker, it does exactly the opposite. We have an obligation to make sure Nunavut is a place where, if we are to be intolerant of anything, it must be of intolerance itself. Similar comments were made by the President of NTI in an interview on TVNC in which he referred to "white people being increasingly very protective of one another." Those remarks may have been less blunt, but they were equally disturbing.

Mr. Speaker, no group of people thinks entirely alike. I, for example, frequently disagree with what I hear from Mr. Amagoalik and Mr. Kusugak. Perhaps this will lead to me also being dismissed as confused. So be it. But I offer this caution. Whenever political leaders depersonalize individuals or groups of people, they play a very dangerous game. If we truly want to do things differently in Nunavut, it is a game we cannot afford to play. I want to add, Mr. Speaker, that if Mr. Amagoalik wants to be taken seriously on issues like gender equality, he must be fully committed to all aspects of equality. No lower standard will be acceptable.

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I was reluctant to raise these issues but, after thinking about it for more than a week, I concluded that something needed to be said. May I say that I, one day, hope to see Mr. Amagoalik and Mr. Kusugak walk across the stage of the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards in recognition of their genuine lifetime achievements. This is more likely to happen if they return to the standard to which of all of us should be firmly committed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Thompson. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Members' statements. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Members' statements. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know that in 1999 the Northwest Territories will be divided with the establishment of Nunavut and a new western territory. As division approaches, we know that a considerable amount of work remains to be done. With that in mind, I want to take a few moments today to address some important issues of particular relevance to Nunavut.

Mr. Speaker, the Nunavut Caucus and the Premier will be travelling to Cambridge Bay this weekend to participate in a Nunavut Leaders' Summit. This meeting has been called to discuss a number of issues that need to be resolved so that we can move ahead in our planning for Nunavut. Mr. Speaker, I look forward to this meeting. Not only because it permits me the opportunity to travel to my home constituency during session, but it also gives us an opportunity to clear the air on several fronts, including the following: we need to make an effort to find consensus on the government design, we need to decide on the nature of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly, we need to determine how we can ensure the long term fiscal stability of Nunavut and finally, and in my mind most importantly, we need to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs and services that will have to sustain post division.

In recent weeks we have had the benefit of receiving the NIC report, Footprints Two; a GNWT response to that report; an NTI response and, most recently, a letter from the federal DIAND Minister, Mr. Irwin, that comments on elements of that report. All of this is useful because it gives us the opportunity to see where various parties are coming from. In that spirit, I want to set out my thoughts on issues that in my view have not yet received sufficient attention.

Mr. Speaker, like others in this House, I look forward to the day when Nunavut becomes reality and, like others, I am committed to seeing that happen early in 1999. However, I am concerned that many people have become so preoccupied with the design of government and bureaucracies that we are failing to dedicate similar levels of energy and attention to the issues that should more appropriately demand our attention. It may well be that the role that I currently find myself in as Minister of Health, Social Services and Justice has an impact on my thinking and on my priorities. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member for Kitikmeot is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Ng, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, honourable colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I believe that we need to move beyond playing around with what government should look like in favour of concentrating our energies on what government should do. The Nunavut government design may be of great interest to lawyers, consultants, and political academics. However, I find it surprising, given clear evidence of extra-ordinary forced growth pressures on spending, particularly in the social envelope, that we continue to spend so much time on how to elect a Premier and whether we should have two Member constituencies.

Mr. Speaker, I believe we need to focus on the painfully obvious indicators of unstable social conditions such as poor health status, extreme housing needs, high rates of suicide, substance abuse, violent crime and incarceration. These issues are the ones which will end up managing or consuming us if we choose to ignore them. Mr. Speaker, I do not want anyone to take my comments to mean that I am not serious about the need to deal with government design.

For example, I support the principal of decentralization, but I do so based on an expectation that plans for decentralization must be based on models that are not only effective, but are also affordable and efficient. I am less concerned about the number of departments created than I am about whether proposed plans will result in a government capable of delivering the programs and services that are essential to people in our communities. Mr. Speaker, without good planning and long term fiscal security, we will find it difficult to achieve that fundamental objective. I believe if we separate related departments, particularly in the social envelope, we will be moving backwards rather than forward.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to summarize by saying, yes, let us reach a consensus on a government design for Nunavut, but more importantly, let us not forget that our priority, our ultimate goal and our responsibility as leaders is to ensure that the new government can effectively deliver affordable programs and services to our constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ng. Members' statements. Mr. Barnabas.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking in Inuktitut. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to talk about the selection of a jury. Mr. Speaker, we have a concern in my constituency on the selection of a jury. When the sheriff collects names, he has a lot of power. In smaller communities, a lot of people are related to each other. Some cannot read and write Inuktitut and English. They have to respond in writing to the sheriff's office. If they do not appear, they are charged for not appearing. I will be asking questions to the Minister on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends).

Thank you, Mr. Barnabas. Members' statements. Mr. Henry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the past 18 months we have struggled to address the fiscal problems facing us. Most Members of this House believe that you should not spend more than you have. I agreed with this when I was elected and I still believe that it is a sound philosophy now. As people worry about how bad things are, I want to remind everyone of how much better off we are than most other jurisdictions.

Mr. Speaker, across Canada, governments have been cutting programs and downsizing trying to bring their spending under control. Seldom is there a day that goes past that we do not hear a story from one province or another about facility closures or program reductions. Unlike our southern counterparts, we are not spending a big chunk of our budget paying interest for our debts. The amount other places spend in interest to service their debt is scary. For example, Nova Scotia has a budget of $4.5 billion. They spend almost 20 percent of that on interest payments. Prince Edward Island, the smallest province in Canada spends 15 percent or $121 million of their $800 million budget on interest. Last year this government spent under $3 million on interest costs. Other jurisdictions have had to slash their capital budget to bring costs down. New Brunswick put a freeze on any new capital projects, while Nova Scotia cut their capital spending by 44 percent.

While we have had to make some reductions in capital, we have managed to keep the majority of our capital in place. Yes, we have had a difficult couple of years here in the NWT, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. The contributions of all the people of the Northwest Territories have put us in good shape for the years to come.

Not only have we cut, but we have also introduced initiatives designed to start addressing the cause of some of our social problems. We would take comfort that we took control of our fiscal situation before it ran away on us.

Unlike the provinces, we do not have to give our dollars to the banks and interest payments. In years to come, we can focus our energy and dollars on making a better life for all the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Members' statements. Mr. Ningark.