Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would like to send greetings back to my wife and family at home in Inuvik.

--Applause

Mr. Speaker, on many occasions, I have also had the opportunity to talk to union representatives and employees alike in the community of Inuvik. Employees have spoken with me and many of them said that no one can afford a strike at this time. Many of our employees are going from payday to payday to make ends meet. The issue of concern now is with talks that are no longer continuing and the information being put forward by both sides is extreme to one another. Some employees I have talked to - who do not attend my meetings, but I have a chance to speak with them - mention they would like the opportunity to see this thing go through and a deal to be settled. There are those who also raise the concern of fairness of how past employees will be dealt with, whether they live in or out of the territories.

During question period, I will be questioning the Minister of Finance regarding the retroactivity of this offer that has been put out and the impact it would have on the residents of the territories and those no longer living. In the issue of fairness, as I have spoken about, we need to deal fairly with all employees who work for this government because it is the employees who perform the work and serve residents of our communities. Many of our own people, aboriginal people and long time northerners, have filled jobs within the government to date. I hope that when it all comes to an end, we will see a satisfactory settlement where people will have a chance to decide if they can support this or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.