Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, it has been an interesting debate this afternoon. We have heard from a number of people that constitutional development will continue. There is no question. I said that myself. I do not think it is right to expect the public government to stand still without knowing how long that is going to take. It does not necessarily affect the end result if the numbers of MLAs change in terms of who has what jurisdiction and how the systems work.
As far as I am concerned, Mr. Chairman, we definitely need more than 14 seats to make this House work properly. Sixteen is not as many as I would like to see, but I recognize we have to respect the work of the Boundaries Commission and what they heard from the public in their travels across the north and I think we have to reflect that in the decisions we make in this House.
Mr. Chairman, I understand the frustrations expressed by Members about the disparity of economic opportunity across our regions. I understand the frustrations Members have expressed about the ease of access to government. I think we have to, as a government, try and address those situations as much as we can. We have to try and improve the situation. But we have to say again, Mr. Chairman, that the laws of Canada also say we must respect the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
As legislators, we have a responsibility to live up to the expectation of the public that we will respect the laws of Canada. The laws of Canada do allow for some variation in constituencies to reflect geography, community history, community interests and minority representation. Our current makeup of constituencies does reflect these differences. In fact, Mr. Chairman, these differences will still be reflected and respected, even with six seats in Yellowknife as recommended. I would point to Tu Nedhe and Deh Cho as still there and not being challenged. I think there is a recognition that geography, difficulty of access, does play a role.
To protect the diversity we now have, and the right of the smaller constituencies to exist, we have to support the recommendations of this commission. Mr. Chairman, I will be supporting this motion and would urge other Members to do so. Mr. Chairman, at the appropriate time, I would request you would have a recorded vote, please.