Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Steen alluded to the visit that the Infrastructure Committee made to his community of Tuktoyaktuk and I would like to talk about that today also, Mr. Speaker. On the weekend of September 25th, I was fortunate enough to travel with Mr. Steen and the Standing Committee on Infrastructure to Tuktoyaktuk. At this point, I would like to thank the Mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, Mr. Eddie Dillon, and the hamlet council and the MLA for Nunakput, Mr. Vince Steen, for the wonderful hospitality that was extended to our committee. We were given tours of the hamlet, opportunities to meet with local residents and attended a community feast and drum dance in honour of our visit. On the evening of September 25th, the standing committee met with the hamlet council and members of the public for close to four hours. During this time, we covered a variety of issues which included the erosion of the shoreline, the nursing shortage, funding for roads, community empowerment and regional self-government. The experience of the trip to Tuktoyaktuk was of immense value to the committee and certainly for myself.
In the past three years, the issue that has dominated the proceedings and plans of the 13th Assembly and the territorial government has been the need to manage the precarious financial situation that we as a government have found ourselves in. Austere measures have been implemented; in some situations, we had to do more with less. The austerity has affected the very essence of the Northwest Territories consensus style of government.
Mr. Speaker, for consensus government to operate properly, it is absolutely necessary for the Members of the Legislative Assembly to know what individuals in a riding 1000 miles away from our own are concerned with. What will be the ramifications of our decisions outside our own riding? It is imperative that those who are involved in making decisions travel to different communities, meet with people and understand the problems within that community. If we had not had the opportunity to see for ourselves, the problems that are faced in other communities it is easy to become focused upon those within our own riding. For consensus government to function properly, all MLAs must pursue the collective interest of northern residents. If Members do not look past the interests of their own ridings, we destroy the very foundation upon which consensus government operates. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.