Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Good morning Members. I would like to thank Mr. Ningark for taking the chair yesterday. Mahsi cho. Orders of the day. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ministers' statements. Mr. Dent.

Thank you, Mr. Dent. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Member for Hay River is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mrs. Groenewegen, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen.

-- Applause

If I could remind the Members to please slow down for the translators. We do have Members in this House that require that. All the statements that are missed, those Members do not have the benefit of getting the full story. Just a reminder. Members' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Members' statements. Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, throughout our lives we all carry labels based on where we live, what we do and what roles we have in our families. Society also classifies us based on our income levels, our social standing, our cultural backgrounds and who we associate with or call friends. But with these labels come judgements and once you think of someone in terms of any one of those labels, you may unfortunately make a statement about their opinion and position before giving them a chance to speak.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share an example with you. Over the past two weeks, since the Nunavut Leaders' Summit in Cambridge Bay, there have been a number of comments made by people and in particular representatives of women's organizations, questioning my comments and opinions on gender parity in the Nunavut Legislature. At this meeting, I spoke on behalf of the Nunavut Caucus and stated our position that a decision to include gender parity is one that, if implemented, would fundamentally change the concept of democratic government and should not be decided by a small group of politicians and leaders but instead be taken to the public through a plebiscite.

No government currently legislates who can or should serve in government based upon any personal characteristics, especially not their gender. To prove there is not a public consensus and a public agreement on this issue and to make a case for a plebiscite, I expressed my own personal view that legislating gender parity may discriminate and label women, rather than advance them. Again, let me stress that I expressed my opinion as a person and as a citizen of Nunavut to illustrate the fact that not all people, men or women, agree that gender parity should be included in the Nunavut government.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent 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.

Mr. Speaker, since that time, my comments have been misrepresented in a manner which demonstrates some of my fears regarding the concept of gender parity. Some people have stated publicly that my comments were likely influenced and controlled by my male colleagues in the Nunavut Caucus and hence implied that, as a person and as a woman, I could not have formed or expressed this opinion on my own. I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that perhaps in expressing my opinion it was I who influenced my colleagues to come to an agreement regarding our position to support a plebiscite.

-- Applause

Mr. Speaker, it places an unfair and incorrect label and judgment that I can only speak as a woman instead of an equal citizen when, in fact, I represent all the constituents in my riding of Aivilik, not just the women.

-- Applause

Overall, the public and personal statements regarding my comments fulfil my fears that if women are legislated into the Nunavut government, their views and opinions may be called into question because of who they are rather than on the merit of their opinions, ideas or comments.

-- Applause

For the record, Mr. Speaker, I would like to declare my position in this government. Obviously, I believe a woman's perspective is just as important as any perspective in society and in government. I would not be standing here if I did not believe that. When I chose to run for a seat in this current government, I did not decide to do it because I am a woman or to limit myself to women's perspectives or to only speak on women's issues. I decided to do it because of who I am and what I believe in and because I wanted to make a difference. I believe all issues facing government today, and in the future, are people issues. Mr. Speaker, I am a person first and foremost. I would like to thank the Members of this House for respecting and involving my opinions as an equal.

(Translation) When we had the meeting in Cambridge Bay, there has been a lot of talk about me on the news about this issue of gender parity, especially in regards to the women saying things about me. I was in Cambridge Bay as one of the leaders to meet with the Nunavut leaders. To those women who have made negative comments about me, I would like to say that I want to be able to talk about my feelings as a leader. I am not saying my opinion just because I am a woman and no one pushed me to say what I had to say. When I became elected to this Legislature, I did not just want to help the women, I wanted to be able to express my opinions by helping all my constituents and I wanted to be able to say that here in the Legislature, I wanted to make some changes. That is why I was elected to the Legislature. I am not here to speak on behalf of just women. I wanted to make changes that the people of Nunavut wanted. I was talked about, behind my back, in regards to women's groups who said they were embarrassed about what I had to say. I want to tell them that gender equality is not what we want in the Nunavut Legislature. We want to be there because we want to represent our people, not just the women in the north. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

-- Applause

Thank you, Ms. Thompson. Members' statements. Again, regarding Members' statements, they are

limited to two and a half minutes. When you double it, it is more than the allowable time for a Member to conclude his statement. I just want to remind the Members that you do have two and a half minutes. We have been here over a year now, we should be able to guess the amount of time required to do a Member's statement and a short time to conclude it. Members' statements. Mr. Evaloarjuk.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last little while I have listened to news items and phone-in shows in Nunavut regarding gender parity by the different interest groups. As we have publicly stated, the Nunavut MLAs would like to see this issue brought to the people for a vote. Let the people use their common sense when they decide whether they will have an equal number of men and women in their Legislature or whether they will have representation by people based on merit.

Mr. Speaker, I spoke out against gender parity, not because I am a man, but because I am very aware of the rights of men and women as being equal within our democratic government and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At present, and since the mid-1900s, women have had the right to vote and to run for any office they wish. Men have the right as well, although their rights occurred well ahead of women's rights. My point here, Mr. Speaker, is that I wish to remind people that we are not hiding anything when we disagree on the gender parity issue. The point is that we have that equality in this day and age and I do not think it is a fair statement to say that because women's rights are lagging in the north they are under-represented. Women have always been encouraged to run for office, Mr. Speaker. I implore more women to run for what they believe in. I encourage women to become leaders and to run on their own merit. I encourage women, as equals, to run against men and men to run against women as equals. In this fair and objective manner, men need not have their freedom bound by having to run only against their gender and, vice versa, for women to run against only their gender for the sake of gender parity.

Mr. Speaker, every human being in Canada has similar rights and freedoms. Mr. Speaker, I would like unanimous consent to conclude my statement. (Translation ends)

Mr. Evaloarjuk is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do we have any nays? There are no nays. Mr. Evaloarjuk, you have unanimous consent.

(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this fair and objective manner, men need not have their freedom bound by having to run only against their gender and, vice versa, for women to run against only their gender for the sake of gender parity. Mr. Speaker, every human being in Canada has certain rights and freedoms granted as a Canadian. This freedom includes having the opportunity to run against a male or a female, whether he or she is black, white, Inuit, Dene or Metis. These rights are not divided into categories under "more equal than others" terms. These rights are straightforward and clear. They do not discriminate. Mr. Speaker, I believe that was the intent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that is the fundamental reason for my not finding gender parity a necessity in the Nunavut Legislature. Women do have the right to run for office and I encourage them to do so for the new Nunavut Legislature, if they so wish. They are welcome and I encourage it.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my statement will encourage all people in Nunavut, men and women, to recognize we have those rights and freedoms to practice today if we so wish. That is why we are Canadians. Mr. Speaker, based on my constituents' phone calls and letters and having their support on this issue, I have been able to speak on it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)

-- Applause

Thank you, Mr. Evaloarjuk. Members' statements. Mr. Enuaraq.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, if you would allow me, I would like to give very special thanks to Yellowknife Stanton Hospital and also to a very special doctor, Doctor Wheeler. Thank you very much and keep up the good work. (Translation) This morning, Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about private businesses that try to get contracts. I would like to say in Pangnirtung there is a construction company in the private sector and this construction company has just Inuit employees. It is an Inuit-run business. There used to be eight of them but there are only seven at this time. I would just like to clarify for you, the people who want to get their own business have a hard time when they first start out and some of them are successful and some of them are not. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say the contracts that are provided by the NWT Housing Corporation to the private businesses should be tendered out and given to more private businesses and small businesses because contracts should be awarded to the local business people in the communities first. The Inuit businesses or small businesses that start out in the communities cannot purchase any locally manufactured or locally owned material from their community, so they should be assisted by the government. I feel the local business people should be given the opportunity to get contracts from the government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. (Translation ends)