Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, after much consideration and encouragement from the people in this community, I feel that I must respond on the manner in which the staff of the Yellowknifer has reported on my involvement with the extension of a commercial grant from the City of Yellowknife to a local business of which I am a part owner. Since July 10, 1998 there had been no few than five editorial comments and numerous articles, some with a decided personal slant published on the subject. While I supposed I should be honoured to be Yellowknife's biggest news, I feel that the Yellowknifer's coverage of this story has gone far beyond objective, fact-finding and has steadily degenerated into a scathing, personal attack on my credibility and reputation as an MLA and a business person.
As a public figure, I expect a reasonable amount of criticism. After all, no one is perfect. I have come to realize that accountability plays a big part in the life of the public servant. Furthermore, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are guaranteed rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The freedom to speak and write freely about public administration is one of the many benefits of living in a democratic society. Without these freedoms, our government cannot function properly, so we all understand that the Yellowknifer has a duty to report on the way in which government officials, myself included, do their jobs. However, the editors of the Yellowknifer need to be reminded that freedom always comes with responsibility. Since when does objective reporting necessitate the kind of damming, brutal remarks published about me by the Yellowknifer again and again over the past several months? I ask why has the Yellowknifer set out to so damage my perception in this community that the well-being of my family has been affected?
I suppose one answer is that by sinking to the levels of a tabloid smear campaign, the publishers of the Yellowknifer hope to sell more newspapers and take home a bigger profit. Perhaps the editors think the people of Yellowknife would rather read light-heart satire and silly cartoons than actual news stories. I personally do not think they do. I also think that the issue of responsible journalism is too important to lend itself to simple answers. The reality is that we live in a community which has only one English-speaking newspaper, a newspaper with a captive audience and a great deal of influence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.