Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about the Constitutional Working Group process to develop a new constitution for the western Arctic. Many of us have been involved in this process and recently, once the redrafted document was released, the public meetings started and constitutional workshops also started. We have held one general meeting with the public in Yellowknife and three workshops, of which the four Yellowknife MLAs participated in this one public meeting and the workshops.

The idea of developing the constitution is a very important agenda item. Sometimes though, I fear the process may seem dry and abstract to a lot of people, but is very important because it is the foundation of which our future western government is going to be built. As we learned through the workshops and the public hearings that were held, there are a number of emotional and sensitive areas. Some of them were touched on at these workshops. For instance, the question was raised, should there be gender parity? Should we guarantee representation for aboriginals? Should there be a Social Charter? What is the relationship going to be with self-government? How will the NWT be run day-to-day program wise in the future? Will the self-government groups of the aboriginal governments run education or will it be the central government? Some of the people at the workshops suggested holding off on a new constitution until all land claims are settled. These are some of the kinds of questions, comments and concerns that were raised so far at the hearings that we have held, Mr. Speaker. We need input from the public to tell us how they feel about these many issues. The people can establish the values and I hope over the summer, Mr. Speaker, that the Constitutional Working Group and their staff will continue to promote workshops well through the summer and into the fall. I would encourage the public to attend these. It is important. We need to know people's thoughts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause