Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again I apologize for pushing the envelope on the topic of my discussion here. If I am saying anything that offends the sense of fairness and integrity of the Members, I apologize. That is not my intention. My intention simply is to let the public know, as much as possible, the seriousness of what is going on.

Mr. Speaker, I do not have in my binder the sessional statement that I am supposed to reply to, but I do have the one dated June 5, 2001. I want to be able to respond to the people of Range Lake what it is that I am trying to say here that applies to the Minister's sessional statement.

Mr. Speaker, we often talk in this House about an agenda that is based on a document called Towards A Better Tomorrow. In that document, that we agreed to in the first day, we talked about the need to do everything we can to help people be self-reliant and to do everything we can for their social well-being.

I believe that any attempt here -- not any attempt, but the constant questioning of the legitimacy of the government that was chosen at the beginning of this Assembly with a mandate from the people, is working against that.

Our goal also, Mr. Speaker, and the Premier has stated this, is better governance through partnerships. I feel very, very strongly that what is going on in this House works directly against the better governance through partnership.

Mr. Speaker, I apologize. I am not trying to paint a wide brush but I am not able to mention any names so I am simply stating that every Member here is free to let their views be known about what they think about this leadership and government and Cabinet. I am simply stating my statements for the benefit of the people of Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, in Towards a Better Tomorrow, one of the four key priorities is a northern-controlled economy that is balanced, diversified, stable and vibrant. I say once again that as long as we are not able to demonstrate that we can act responsibly with the power that we have, we will never have a northern- controlled economy. We have to work together inside of this House and outside. We have to work with our partners in Ottawa. We have to work with our partners in aboriginal governments. As long as we cannot keep our House in order, we will not have a diversified, stable and vibrant economy.

Mr. Speaker, one of the four principles, the last principles that we agreed on, is to work very hard on behalf of the people to make sure that there are adequate resources in order to help all levels of government to become more self-reliant in meeting the needs of the people we serve.

Mr. Speaker, I could tell you that in my two years of being here, keeping track of what is going on in the back hallways, it is really hard to focus on making sure that we deal with the issues that will make sure that the levels of government out there have adequate resources.

Mr. Speaker, the hallmark of this government and this Assembly is the fact that we were able to create a forum, called the Intergovernmental Forum, where we were able to place on the agenda the most important issues of the day, that being resource revenue sharing agreements with the federal government and the devolution of programs so that we could have the resources to address some of the funding shortfalls.

For example, because we do not have enough money to build the roads in the North -- Mr. Speaker, we have 2,200 kilometres of road in the North and because of the resource development that is happening, some of these roads are being deteriorated to the extent that it is becoming a safety question.

For example, on Highway No. 3, the last 60 kilometres, we know that you can hardly drive that road at the speed limit, which is 80 to 90 kilometres. It is almost dangerous. As the winter is coming, we really have no means other than to pay for this road that is in dire need. The only thing we could suggest is to try to tax the money out of the people.

I have been part of the committee that has been travelling and this is not what the people want. This is not what they can afford. So more than ever before, we have the need to work on resource revenue sharing and devolution.

However, as long as we spend our time in this House questioning the legitimacy of the government, we are not going to be able to do that.

Mr. Speaker, the next statement Mr. Premier talked to us about is capacity building. This morning, Mr. Speaker, I can advise you that I was asked to be a guest speaker at a community development and governance course at Aurora College. I had a very interesting time telling them about what went on in this House, but one of the things that people said was that we really need capacity building in regions. We have to get ready for the people to be trained, know how to manage the community programs that they might possibly inherit as a result of self-government negotiations or land claim negotiations, or just by devolution from this government of various programs. They need capacity. They need resources. They need money to build that, but as long as the government that we have has to spend the majority of its time and its workload answering questions about the legitimacy of its government, then we are not able to do this. This goes to the very heart of the duty and mandate that the people of the North have placed upon us.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the fact that I have been a part of the Assembly that has made great progress in the settlement of aboriginal rights and negotiations, and self-government and land claims agreements. Mr. Speaker, as you are aware, Beaufort-Delta has succeeded in signing an agreement-in-principle just a short while ago, which has been worked on over a very, very long time. My colleague here, Mr. Krutko, lets us know about that repeatedly. I know that one of the students I was talking to today, James Andre, is one of the people who was involved in that process.

Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho region is working very hard to successfully conclude and make fast progress on their process and to work on their framework agreement and their self-government negotiations, but should they always be questioning who is the person who speaks for this government?

Is it not time for us to say that we support consensus government, that we are not ready for party politics -- and I do not believe that the party system is what is required, but I do believe as long as we have consensus government, it is incumbent on us to make sure that it works.

If we constantly challenge and question the consensus reached at the beginning of the mandate and weaken the strength and power of the Ministers of this House or the Premier, then we are not able to fulfill the mandate of the people to work at these various negotiating tables.

It is not just the Beaufort-Delta. We have history-making negotiations happening in the North Slave region with the Dogribs. We have equally important talks being held with the Akaitcho leaders and the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada. We have made great progress with the aboriginal peoples south of the lake. I believe that this government has done a great job in getting a very strong linkage with various partners, not only in aboriginal governments but in municipal governments. I know for a fact that there is a great linkage between this government and the mayor of Yellowknife.

This Territory, Mr. Speaker, is going through a great deal of change. We are outpacing the rest of Canada, maybe around the world, in our economic development. There are people coming here to invest multi-millions, possibly billions, because we have so much to offer. We have oil and gas. We have diamonds. We have all sorts of basic minerals that were sitting dormant until now.

When these industries speak to us and speak to this government, it is in the interest of the people that everyone out there knows that they are talking to a legitimate government, that this government has the support and consent of the Members of the House.

Mr. Speaker, in the recent statement by the Premier about two days ago and in the statement by the Minister of Finance, it was very obvious that things have changed a lot in just the last month.

I believe that the economy of southern Canada was going through difficulties at any rate. The U.S. economy was heading downward and the September 11th disaster has created all sorts of uncertainties, not only in the U.S., but it will have a rippling effect northward for all of us.

This is a more important time than any other time before for us to hunker down and figure out what we need to do. This government has worked on investment strategies, even though we never have enough money to pay for what we need to do. We as a group have agreed that we will get into a reasonable level of deficit in order that we make key investments in places that are needed, such as training our people so that they will be prepared to take up the opportunities and jobs that may become available.

This government has done what is known as Maximizing Northern Employment for the first time that I can remember. As a university graduate coming up, I never had the certainty that I would have a job opportunity or training opportunity that would allow me to further the education that I had gained so that I could make a positive contribution to this economy.

I am proud to say this government was able to that. We have what is called Maximizing Northern Employment. University graduates are guaranteed a job when they come here after they finish their schooling.

We have also guaranteed employment for those professions that we are much in need of, such as teachers, nurses and some of the science graduates. These are key initiatives, Mr. Speaker.

None of these programs can be secure if there is a constant question hanging in the air that we are not a government to be trusted, that we do not know from one day to the next who the Minister of Education may be. That is the danger of our consensus government because it is unlike party politics, where a party in the government is secure until the election is called.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier mentioned the need for us to set a social agenda. There was a great fanfare in this House and a conference was held in Hay River in June, I believe. There is a lot of work to be done there, but as long as we do not know who the government is and the government has to spend all this time defending itself because of the conflicts within this House, then we are not able to help the people outside.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier indicated in his June statement that he spoke for the benefit and the importance of recognizing our public service. I do believe that the Premier has gone a long way in making sure that he lets the public service know that they are part of a team. He made sure that none of the senior public servants, when the new government came in, that they should be in danger of losing their jobs. He made sure that everyone knew that they were part of the team, that we had an agenda to meet and that we had to move forward.

However, a constant question about the legitimacy of this government or the Premier or our system of government could only do damage to the morale of the public service and the sense of security that the public service needs in order to carry out its mandate.

I have been a resident of the Northwest Territories for over 23 years and I have been involved very closely with the public service. I have watched from afar the kind of instability and kind of assault that is placed on the public service each time there is a power struggle going on at the top of the government.

I have always wished that the leaders who are elected in this House would be mindful and be measured about what they do, because whether they recognize it or not, every word they say and every action they make sends the public servants to action. Everything we do and say here is carried out by public servants. I guess some people do not think that is happening, but I do know for sure that we are being placed here with a lot of power and privilege and we should not waste the resources and be light-hearted about questioning the legitimacy of the government and its agenda.

Mr. Speaker, just this week, this Assembly witnessed the first Assembly on Official Languages. Mr. Speaker, that is partly because of the fact that the official languages statute has come up for review. It has been ten years since the Officials Languages Act was instituted and it is going through a review. Our House saw the importance of this work and we approved the mandate and budget of that committee as one of the first items on the agenda. A lot of people came together, Mr. Speaker, from all over the North, from all cultural groups and all language groups. They had a lot to say about what needs to be done to better promote and protect the languages of the North, all official languages. That is good work being done.

As long as there are constant questions about whether or not this government has the legitimacy to conduct such a policy and such an approach to the issue, then we are not serving the people of the North, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have now been provided with a copy of the new sessional statement, which I believe speaks quite the same as what I have spoken about so far.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to mention that this government has gone a long way in terms of various legislative changes. For example, in the books, there is National Aboriginal Day being proclaimed, if we pass the bill. That is the kind of thing that this government should be encouraged to go forward with and not waste its time defending its existence and legitimacy.

Mr. Speaker, when I ran for MLA, I ran, like everyone else here, on a number of issues on its platform. Of course, on every platform of every candidate in any election, there is those sort of staple of items: we are going to work for economic development and creation of jobs; we will work to diversify our economy; we will promote our tourism; we will work on a number of social agenda items.

I do believe that one of the most important things that I ran on is to work towards a responsible government and to work towards open and transparent government. I know, Mr. Speaker, that it has been two years since I have been here. I must say that I really and absolutely have enjoyed the days here. I do believe that it is the kind of privilege and honour that not a lot of people have a chance to experience.

I have done my best to communicate with the people of Range Lake and people of the North so that I live up to the promise that I made, which is to keep this government accountable, open and transparent. However, I have always said in this House, Mr. Speaker, I was not elected here to be an opposition Member. I never said to my voters if you elect me, I am going to be an opposition and I am going to criticize everything that is going on about the government, or that I will do everything I can to destabilize the government. I do not think anybody here ran on a platform to say that I am going to go in there and I am going to oppose.

Mr. Speaker, I believe we all came here on the platform that we are going to be accountable and under the system of government that we have, which is consensus government, I believe very strongly that being open and accountable applies to all 19 of us. It is not just seven Members we choose as a Cabinet. All 19 Members have to be open and accountable to what agenda we pursue and how we pursue them. Why do we think that we are being accountable to the people, because I think accountability is to the people, not to -- we have to be accountable to each other, but the overriding concern is that we are accountable to the people.

In following with that mandate, I believe that I have to live by those words every day in every action. I do believe that it is not only what goes on in this House, but being open and accountable and being a responsible legislator to my constituents has to be that I do everything I can to make sure that all of the proceedings inside of these walls are open and transparent.

Mr. Speaker, I believe it is long overdue that the people of the North have a responsible, stable government. We have seen so many times -- I know that I have watched the Legislative Assembly for at least 11 years. I first worked here in 1989. I have routinely seen Ministers being removed and portfolios being changed and legitimacy of the government being challenged and I do not believe that makes for good, responsible government. This is what I ran on. I am compelled to work on that no matter what it takes.

Mr. Speaker, I am not saying that we have to keep everything status quo in the interest of stability and quietness. That is not what I am saying at all. I fully appreciate and respect the fact that under the consensus government, we choose our Premier and our Cabinet Ministers and we have to keep them accountable. That is how this system of government works.

I also believe that I have to be accountable to the people out there because without being accountable to the people, then whatever I do and say is absolutely and completely irrelevant.

So I do believe that what I am trying to say here today is very much in line with how I see myself being able to fulfill the mandate of the people of Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, we started this session three days ago -- not even three days ago. We started this session two days ago. Just last week I spent, along with my colleagues, most of the week talking about the highway toll idea. We also spent time talking about the proposed amendment to the Wildlife Act, people wanting to know what is happening with the Cuff report, what is the government's response, what is going to happen to Stanton Yellowknife Health Board. I went to an open house in Range Lake School where, in a class that was really built for 24 little kids, it was full of 31 big kids.

There are so many issues out there that people are expecting us to deal with, that my constituents are expecting me to deal with. What are we going to do about the highway toll? Are you going to tax me? Yet for two days, we have not been able to address that.

What people see in the public is only half of what is going on, not even. That is not meeting up to my promise to my constituents that I will work for a responsible government.

Mr. Speaker, I think that the second sessional statement the Premier made on October 23rd states very clearly that we have very serious decisions to make here. All of the assumptions we made about our financial future and the optimistic pictures that we came to this House with are being changed as we speak.

Two days into the House session, we have not addressed any of those issues because at every juncture of this session, Ministers and the Premier have to spend a lot of time defending their legitimacy.

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the people of the North out there that this is a very, very crucial time in the history of our political system and this Assembly. It is really important for the people up and down the valley, in every community to spend the time to read what Premier Kakfwi has said on October 23rd because he outlines very clearly the serious challenges ahead of us. He tells us about the economic downturn that we will experience and what the consequence will be in not coming up with the kind of decisions that we need to make.

I want to let the people know and Range Lake constituents know that I have every confidence in this Premier. If any of them feel that the agenda we are heading or some of the priorities that the Premier has stated on October 23rd is not acceptable to them, I encourage everybody to call either the Premier or the MLAs. Mr. Speaker, we are not able to do our job in this House unless we hear from the people out there.

I must say, Mr. Speaker, before I became an MLA, I think that all of us kind of looked at their MLAs and thought that they always claimed to be very busy, and sometimes they make decisions that are not in line with what you thought they should be doing. I sometimes thought that they were not listening to the people. I must say that having been here for two years, it is hard to divide the time to make sure that you are out there as much as possible, listening to the people and partaking in community discussions. I think it is really important for people to know that it helps us a lot if they would make sure that we are aware of what we need to know.

I know that with today's technology, Mr. Speaker, communication has become much easier. Through my website, I get e-mail and questions from the constituents of Range Lake. I know that most Members here communicate by newsletter. I think it is really important in order to maintain communications that people pay attention to what is being done and said here so that we do our part. That the people out there do their part to create or help foster a mature and responsible democracy that I believe I deserve as a resident of the NWT and the people of the NWT deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I just need to tell the people of Range Lake that I support this Premier. I do not question the legitimacy of the government because I believe that he brings to the House a sense of fairness and the experience of being in a leadership role for 15 years.

I think that it is only fair. I do believe that the people are inherently fair out there. I do believe that people like to see things that are commonsensical and make sense, things that are rational, so if anybody's conduct or their professionalism is being questioned, I think the most commonsensical approach to that is that people want to hear that if you do not think someone is doing a good job, then tell us about it.

Especially in the public life that we lead, I think it is very important that we act and conduct ourselves in a way that we claim we are and that we all adhere to the values of openness and transparency and accountability. Those are the buzz words. We talk about them all the time, Mr. Speaker, and I think it is incumbent on all of us that what we hand out we are prepared to live up to as well.

Mr. Speaker, I believe it is time for me to close this statement. I would like to tell the interested people out there that I will be posting a number of documents on my website about the things that I could not speak about today but I think they are things the people should know. I would like to encourage the people to look at my website, which is www.sandyleemla.com.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in the beginning, I have had time to think about what has been happening in and out of this House for the last couple of days and I just felt the need to take the opportunity of replying to the opening address to raise and to alert the public that it is time, that this is the time for everyone out there to take the time to read, hear and ask questions of their Members about what is going on.

I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for letting me have this opportunity.