Constitution, Mr. Speaker, that is what I would like to talk about today. Yesterday, we heard from Mr. Antoine, the chairman of the Constitutional Working Group and Mr. Miltenberger who is also a member of that group. I would like to add my perspective to what has transpired on the constitutional issues. I would like to talk about some nuts and bolts and matters. I will refer to my letter that I wrote to the
Constitutional Working Group and to the western Members of the Legislative Assembly.
1. Timeframe, it was an issue by a lot of people and it has been dealt with and recognized that we should make sure that we put some brakes on. The document was flawed and it has been agreed that we should rewrite and redraft the document.
2. The need for further public consultation. Second round of consultation is scheduled for this fall. A constitutional conference has been scheduled for this spring. That is good progress, Mr. Speaker.
Now I would like to talk about an issue that I put forward and I would like to explain. I recommended that we expand the Constitutional Working Group by two members from the general public. There was concern out there about the imbalance of representation between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal representatives. No doubt some people will argue this point, but this will not satisfy those who had presented this viewpoint. What has happened since then? Mr. Kakfwi has generously and graciously given up his seat to Mr. Dent. I am sure that was not an easy decision for Mr. Kakfwi to do because he has been a proponent, a good follower and a contributor to the constitutional process over the years and an excellent participant. To further balance this inequity, Mr. Miltenberger offered to give up his seat and he offered it to myself or another Yellowknife Member, Mr. Henry. Neither of us could accept. I could not accept because, in my opinion, it was exactly the point I was making. We had Mr. Kakfwi step aside and that would have meant an area that could not be represented. Mr. Miltenberger, I felt, should continue to represent his area.
The second reason that I did not want to accept was I was pushing the idea of...