Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I wish to rise and speak briefly on the issue of pay equity. There has been a lot of information which we as MLAs have been presented, both by the government through extensive briefings and by the union through mail, phone and personal contact. It is clear that the legal landscape is changing when we first started these discussions, when we took office. One thing I do know for sure is that the $40 million offer on the table is a lot of money, especially in light of the sacrifices all northerners made in the last two years as we attempted to balance the budget. I would like to repeat all northerners made sacrifices.

I think it is very important that we try to resolve this issue, and the feedback I have received from constituents who are union members to date has been very consistent. They want a chance to personally make a choice and vote on the package which has been presented. This is the feedback I have received from the constituents in my riding. I would hope that at some point, this particular issue does not stay jammed long, it does not stay at this level between politicians and elected officials of the government and the union, but that at some point the people who are supposed to benefit from this package have an opportunity to tell us what they think about the work that has been done to date. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause