Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We had made a commitment to the Legislature that we would not initiate any changes without at least informing the Members. It is not proper for me to suggest that there are going to be whole scale changes made, because then the Members would be very upset and I would be in full retreat by now.
I am going on the assumption that all Members will be interested in looking at the idea of reorganizing regions to compliment the settlement of claims, the emergence of political organizations and aboriginal and regional governments.
We should look at the idea of making sure that the existing resources at the community and regional level are, if they can be, made more efficient and better utilized for services to communities. If there are ways of creating greater autonomy at the community and regional level, then we should do that, respecting the fact that the self-government negotiations are going on.
If the communities and regions wish for an initiative like that, we should be prepared to offer it. I am interested to know if the Legislature would give an indication like that. I believe that was what we had suggested in Fort Providence, but it is not categorical and clear to me.
I would be prepared to hear Members give that direction so that we can begin work like that. It is possible that we can look at making the government, at the headquarters level, more efficient. There are ways of becoming more accountable. We can look at ways we set targets and have instruments that can measure whether or not we have achieved those targets.
I would be prepared to look at initiatives like that. These are ideas that are floating around. We have had very little time to sit down and come up with ideas. and ensure that we have the proper planning to suggest ideas like that. I am looking forward to, sometime after the Session, when Cabinet may make suggestions like that amongst ourselves, when there might be more time to do proper planning. Thank you.