Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Premier was able to pass greetings on to his wife and his family, then I too want to pass on greetings to my wife who is sitting up here today. Welcome.

-- Applause

I listened carefully to what everyone had to say this afternoon and have made a lot of notes. I did not hear any lack of support for the major programs and initiatives that the government has undertaken over the past two years. In fact, I heard a lot of words of support for what we are doing as a government. If that certainly is not the reason for us being in this situation, then what is it?

Mr. Speaker, my sense in listening is that this is all, or largely about, Premier Kakfwi's response to recommendations in the report, and particularly about the response to one recommendation. I have heard comments about actions that have been taken since that time, so I suppose those have come into play as well. However, we have to ask ourselves, is that really enough that we would want to, if not throw the government off its agenda, at least cause a major hiccup in what we are doing? Are there not other ways that we can resolve this and work around it?

I do not think we want to disrupt the strategy that we are on as a government. I have to say that I believe Mr. Kakfwi and the whole Cabinet and the Regular Members and all of us as an institution have really taken great strides in getting the Northwest Territories on the map.

I have heard a number of people say it is very difficult to make this vote in public, that somehow this should not be a public vote. It would be better to be a secret vote. I have a little bit of difficulty with that and I would ask that Members think about it. Every day we take votes on bills and other matters on behalf of our constituents because we want our constituents to know how we are voting. We know that we are not voting for ourselves personally. We are voting on behalf of the people who put us here.

Certainly it would seem to me that on something as important as a vote of confidence in a Premier, surely that is something you want to be clear to your constituents on how you have voted. You want them to know that you have represented their interests.

I understand that there may be some reluctance because some people feel that there may be retribution if you vote the wrong way. I hope that if Members are feeling that, because we vote every day on issues, if you feel there is retribution being taken because you did not vote to support a bill, because you did not vote for my highway bill -- or Mr. Steen's highway bill, not mine -- our highway bill...

-- Laughter

...or my bill that I sponsored on the hotel tax, that somehow I am going to get even with you. We do not operate that way. If we start to, then I think we had better talk about it because that is not what a public government is about. We all feel strongly about a transparent and open government. Well, let us be transparent and open. Let us vote on behalf of the people that we represent. Let us let people know how we vote on this matter as well.

Some people said they did not want to vote because they were thinking of throwing their hat into the ring for a Cabinet position. I guess that one throws me a little bit because I am not sure why someone would want to be on Cabinet if they did not support the Premier. When we were elected two years ago, we knew who the Premier was. Before we threw our hats in, we had to know and make our own decision: do we want to work with the Premier or do we not want to? I ask you to think about that.

I agree with the recommendations, I believe from Mr. Krutko, that we do need to review our policies and procedures to make sure we do not spend so many days on this kind of thing again. I fully support that and I will do everything I can to ensure that we do that.

Mr. Speaker, I think it is time to put this matter to a vote and put it behind us. As we do, I think we all need to look at what do we want our legacy to be as the 14th Assembly, collectively and individually? Is it a legacy of one where we kept our shoulder to the wheel and worked to do the best we could on behalf of people? Or is it a legacy that, as Mr. Braden has said, we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory?

Mr. Speaker, it is time to vote on this one and, Mr. Speaker, I would ask that this be a recorded vote. Thank you.

-- Applause