Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that continues to bother me about the GNWT is the secrecy and the MI5 approach to everything. This has the effect of silencing employees coming forward with ideas, solutions or sometimes criticisms. Mr. Speaker, from the entry level clerk to the senior managers, many of these individuals are afraid to say anything contrary about the government or give information because they fear for their jobs or fear they will be disciplined. Is this is the way to run a government, by fear? I think not. Is this some recent phenomenon? I think not.

Mr. Speaker, I will give you an example. I had a call a few days ago at my office. It was a middle manager for my constituency who wanted to make me aware of a certain situation. The call came after five Eastern Standard Time and was shrouded in low tones and whispers. It was like something out of Kafka. The point being a simple phone call to their MLA is so threatening to our employees they would rather not call because of fear of being disciplined. The question is why they feel this way. Last year, I brought up the fact, as did some other MLAs, that when we wanted to speak to the senior superintendents or senior bureaucracy in our ridings they are under the impression they could not speak to us on GNWT matters, although they were our constituents.

-- Applause