Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is, indeed, a difficult issue and situation. I have been thinking of it constantly since Friday, when I became aware of the situation and, as events unfolded over the weekend, of what is the best course of action. I, too, have talked to people whose advice I value and whose input is important to me. At the end of the day as we stand here on our own, it is going to be my decision on how I vote on this particular situation. Very clearly, I see this as a political situation where we have one Member of this House challenging another and making many allegations. I am very concerned about the precedent, as well. If we do this and the Premier is forced to step aside on the basis of what are now unsubstantiated allegations, will that open the door in the future for anyone else that wants to possibly bring a government into gridlock or into some sort of legislative crisis before the facts are proven one way or the other.
Mr. Speaker, I see very many parallels with this situation and the situation I went through within my election, where allegations were made and it was suggested in some corners that I should just resign and have a bi-election and let the people vote again. I considered the allegations to be unfounded and said they would be proven as such and I refused to do that. I think regarding the Premier, while it is somewhat different, there are very many similar parallels.
To me, this particular situation has added meaning. Very clearly, I see a role for this Assembly and that is going to be once the Commissioner makes her ruling and provides her recommendations on what has to be done on the basis of the facts that she ascertains through the resulting inquiry. We may or may not have a role to play at that point, depending on what the outcome is. At this juncture, the Premier has had to talk this over with the people whose advice he values. At the end of the day he had to make his own decision and stand before the people of the Northwest Territories and state his case, which he has done. While he will not answer to all the people of the Northwest Territories in a year from now, he will be accountable, as we all will for the decisions we make in this House.
So Mr. Speaker, I, like my colleague, Mr. Ningark, will not be supporting this motion and will be waiting for the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry to see, in fact, if this Legislative Assembly has to take further action. Thank you.