Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this has indeed, at least for me personally and I am sure for many Members, been a difficult year for Members of this Assembly. The 13th Assembly has been faced with challenges unprecedented in an over 30 year history of the Government of the NWT. For the first time since the seat of government came north from Ottawa, we have had to cope with the difficult challenge of deficit reduction. We have had to deal with the enormous complexities and challenges of preparing for division and suffer the stress of a separation which all parties are labouring to keep as amicable and productive as possible. Now we are faced with perhaps our most personal difficult task to date. The responsibility and obligation to pass judgement on one of our own colleagues in respect of the matter that is before this House today, the report of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner.
All of this has placed an enormous strain on this Assembly and has stretched our ability to govern effectively to its absolute limits. I am personally saddened to find ourselves in the situation we are in today and our former Premier, Mr. Morin, a man who has worked hard for his constituency in the north over the last 11 years, has found it necessary to step down. We find ourselves grappling with matters of censor and leadership a scant four months before division occurs.
I want to thank Mr. Morin for moving quickly to relinquish the office of the Premier, particularly after the release of the report. I know Mr. Morin and I know the reasons he made this decision. He made this decision to save his family, his friends and his colleagues any further pain and to attempt to restore confidence in the government that he has worked many years of his life in serving.
We are forced to deal with a question that is before this House, how to deal with the report at hand. I would echo the comments of some of my colleagues that it is incumbent upon all of us to find a fair resolution to this issue. There is no question that this is one of the most highly charged and emotional issues that we as an Assembly are being called to deal with. It has taken a tremendous personal toll on a number of good northerners, myself included. It has polarized public opinion, has caused friction and division in this House and has undermined our ability to get on with the many very important issues of the day.
As I sat here, either here or in my office, listening to my colleagues speak to this issue, I hear the recognition that there is a crisis of faith in the ability of this government to govern effectively. Many of you believe that the inquiry into the allegations of conflict of interest have precipitated this crisis. I see the matter in a much larger context. We now live in a time of growing demand for services of government and diminishing capability of government to provide these services. There are a great many of our constituents whose needs we simply no longer have the capacity to meet, and who are understandably angry with their government for our failure to continue to provide the level of service they once enjoyed.
In addition, as I mentioned before, this government has had to face the unique challenge of division without any experience or body of precedent upon which to model its actions. Our civil service is stretched to the limit in trying to provide the basic services of government while trying to complete the many demanding tasks that are required of our staff to prepare for division. We have had to cut back in our service to the public because of reduced fiscal capacity and then it has had to be cut back even further. As well, we are looking at a time in which the public, both at a national level as well as in our local context, has come to expect the worst of the government and to be suspicious of our motives and our methods.
I have thought long and hard about this process of the inquiry into the conflict of interest allegations against our former Premier and about all of the events that led to that process. I am not certain whether this whole turn of events has led to a lack of confidence in this government or whether the inquiry enhanced the matter that is before us today, are in fact an outcome and product of an environment in which there is heightened suspicion of the motives of government and those who serve in public life. I am, however, certain of one thing. There is now, more than ever, a need to restore public confidence in the institution of government and to bring stability during the remainder of our term. For this reason, a number of my colleagues have said that they would like to move quickly to accept the support and the recommendations it contains so we can get it behind us. Take the steps we feel are necessary to regain a measure of public faith and get on with the very important issues of governance at hand.
Many of these same people feel that in stepping down, Mr. Morin has imposed upon himself a punishment which goes beyond that recommended by the Conflict of Interest Commissioner. I concur with the desire expressed by some of my colleagues to bring this matter to a swift conclusion so the attention of this Assembly can be more proactively focused on the matters at hand. However, I must also acknowledge the content of the report of the Commissioner and the lessons it contains. While I have some concerns with some of the findings of the Commissioner, I have expressed these, that does not mean I do not see value in the report. It is a cautionary tale. There are lessons in this report for each of us who are privileged to sit in this Assembly and for those who follow in our footsteps. If there is one single key lesson I have learned as a result of this document, it has to do with the issue of public perception.
It has become clear to me in reading the report and talking to my constituents and other Members of the public that even if the conduct of this government had been by the books, it did not look right. If the conduct of the government is broadly perceived to be wrong and continues to be perceived that way after the facts are on the table, then we have a real problem. Regardless of whether or not we followed the rules, the issue is that the public, our constituents, the people we represent are not happy with the way in which matters were handled. This to me points to a very real need for the government to make every effort possible to put things right.
We are less than one year away from an election in the west and only weeks away from election in the east. Allowing the electorate to vote new Members to represent them in their respective Assemblies is the surest, the most decisive way to renew confidence in government. Until the time comes that our constituents are given this opportunity, we must take what steps we can to show that we take the lessons of this report seriously.
Mr. Morin took the first step on his own in resigning from his position as Premier. As well, another very important step was taken when the decision announced by the Acting Premier to establish a committee of senior staff of the Government of the Northwest Territories. This committee will review and recommend changes to government procedures to ensure government staff are aware of and adhere to the conflict of interest.
I concur with my colleagues, we must agree to act quickly on the recommendations in order to restore public confidence in this government. We have been involved in a lengthy debate about legal costs, rights on representation and examination, protection of witnesses and how to deal with the findings of this conflict hearing.
I would suggest that another lesson to be drawn from this process is how to improve the process itself. Proceedings related to the conflict hearing need to be reviewed and recommendations prepared for all our consideration. Such a review should be designed to ensure we have a comprehensive framework in place that we all agree is thorough, appropriate and addresses the conflict issues of Ministers, MLAs and the public service. These recommendations should be tabled in this House so they are available to all members of the public. I would further suggest that the value of such a review would rest in its ability to provide an objective, third party assessment of the process we have just been through. Such a review would best be performed by someone not caught up in the politics and issues of the day, someone of confidence and standing from outside the Northwest Territories.
We need to demonstrate to our constituents that this Assembly is committed to good governance, that we are prepared to get back to the job so we can see the Northwest Territories through the final months leading to division. We need to demonstrate that, as we have said so many times in this House, we are capable of managing our own affairs.
While the Government of the Northwest Territories and the people we represent face many challenges, we also have many opportunities. We are on the brink of creating two new territories. We have the opportunity for a new fiscal relationship with the federal government that will reduce our dependence and transfer payments and may bring with it jurisdiction over our non-renewable resources. We have the opportunity to work towards the settlement of land claims and the conclusion of self-government negotiations, and we have the opportunity to build strong partnerships with our southern neighbours and become a contributor to the Canadian federation. All of this depends on our ability to view the matter at hand in a fair and even-handed manner and to bring stability and order to the remaining days of this Assembly.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to add one final comment in closing. As one of the four Cabinet Ministers who signed the letter testifying to the conduct of the Premier regarding a specific Cabinet meeting, I have been asked by Mrs. Groenewegen to offer an explanation for my signature. It was not my intention to speak to that issue, but I will comply to Mrs. Groenewegen's request. In signing the letter, it was my intention to testify to the intent of Mr. Morin's actions with respect to declaring a conflict. I believe then, as I do now, that Mr. Morin absented himself from the meeting with the specific intention of avoiding being in conflict. It is unfortunate that the wording of the letter was not more specific, and I do regret if this letter had the effect of either misleading the proceedings of the commission or in any way affected Mrs. Groenewegen in her complaint. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
--Applause