Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will start off first by recognizing that Tuktoyaktuk and Holman Island, or Holman, both requested an amendment to the Nunakput riding by establishing a separate seat for Tuktoyaktuk. This suggestion was that it would then leave Holman, Paulatuk and Sachs Harbour as a separate riding. Mr. Chairman, I made an oral presentation to the Electoral Boundaries Commission in Tuktoyaktuk on August 12 and in there I did not support, nor did I oppose the suggestion.
As an MLA, I pointed out that it is not easy for me to reach the settlement of Holman, but there are regular flights to Sachs and Paulatuk from Inuvik, which allows me for very short connections. In order to reach Holman, I have to fly first to Yellowknife and then down to Holman. I also pointed out that separating the communities as was suggested would not solve the problem because there are still no scheduled flights in between Sachs, Holman and Paulatuk. That would not resolve the problem. I did point out that Holman does, in fact, receive all its services at this point in time from the Kitikmeot or from Yellowknife directly and there are direct flights to Yellowknife. Furthermore, 75 percent of the residents of Holman are, in fact, directly related to Inuit of Kugluktuk and Cambridge. Only 25 percent of them may be related to the Inuvialuit in the Beaufort. I suggested that if any one of those four of my communities were to justify their riding, it would have been Holman, based on the differences they have at this present time and the fact that they are not connected to the Beaufort. The unfortunate part of it is, they do not have the numbers. I pointed that out as well, there are only four hundred and some residents in the community of Holman.
Mr. Chairman, I also pointed out that, at the present time, there are different requirements and different workloads for MLAs than they had in the past because the government has now put in place boards, education boards, and also health boards which take a lot of workload off the MLAs. There are also wildlife boards through the land claims which basically remove almost all questioning of wildlife concerns. The people now have opportunity to take their concerns directly to the board. That is what they do. That makes a lot less workload for MLAs. I am not suggesting the boards are removing the responsibilities of the MLAs, just removing some of the workload. I pointed that out. I did not at that point in time, Mr. Chairman, suggest whether there should be a change in the particular riding of Nunakput. I note that in the Boundaries Commission Report, the commissioners have not recognized this request. I note also that one of the commissioners was in fact from the community of Tuktoyaktuk. I have to take into consideration she gave and the rest of the commissioners gave serious thought to this.
Mr. Chairman, I now turn to the report itself. I suggest we take and look, give some serious significance to see exactly who was on this Boundaries Commission. We must not ignore the fact that one of them is a Supreme Court judge. We should ask ourselves why the act is in such a way that a Supreme Court judge is on the Boundaries Commission. The fact of the matter is, to make sure that whatever comes out of the Boundaries Commission can stand a challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights. Obviously one of the main duties of the Supreme Court judge would be to ensure it would in fact, meet the requirements of the Constitution. I give great significance to the fact that the Supreme Court judge is on that Boundaries Commission. I also give great significance to the fact that she put forward a minority recommendation. I suggest she may not have been sure the recommendation of the majority of the commissioners could, in fact, stand a challenge. Furthermore, the references to a smaller riding for Yellowknife North I believe it is, did not take into consideration there were other requests for the same type of ridings in other parts of the territory. Nunakput was requesting smaller ridings, so was Nahendeh as was Fort Rae, Rae-Edzo. I am sure the commissioner could not see reacting or responding to the request for a small riding for Mr. Erasmus' riding, without taking into consideration the request from the other communities in other parts of the territory.
I also take into consideration the fact that she could have suggested only one Member for Yellowknife. She did not. She supported two Members. All she did was change the numbers within those two, so you divide all six evenly or as close to evenly as possible. Therefore I think she was making sure that whatever was recommended will stand a challenge and we do not have to worry about it. One of the questions we put to the legal counsel the other day was whether or not, what would Supreme Court judges do and what would they not do in certain circumstances. I suggest all our answers from the Supreme Court judge that was sitting on this commission she is indicating to us what we should do. Although I favour and I would think at some time in the future, maybe possibly the next Assembly, there would be struck another Boundaries Commission to address the fact that aboriginal groups do not want to deal with Boundaries Commissions at this time.
There are individuals who do not want to deal with Boundaries Commissions at this time based on the uncertainty in the political arena at this time. Hopefully, in two years' time, three years' time, the political arena will be more settled. At that point in time, we could possibly look at all the boundaries and see whether or not we could in fact, have more than what has been recommended here, 16. I also speak against having small numbers. I prefer large numbers. I think the public should know that this government receives sufficient funding from the federal government to cover the cost of 24 Members. We do receive funding for 24 Members. We are not going to be cutting programs in order to have 24 or whatever number. We do not cut programs. The funding is already in the formula agreement. We can take up to 24. The funding is there. I suggest in the future we deal with that. We re-address, we have another look at this thing. For the time being, Mr. Chairman, I support the minority recommendations of the Boundaries Commissioners. That is what I say.
--Applause