Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to put my views on this subject on the floor again. I tried to do so earlier, however, I was not able to skate around some of the terminology.

Mr. Speaker, I have watched this whole process for many months. I believe the whole process took eight months. I am getting very tired of what I am considering to take up a lot of our time. Maybe we had to jump through the hoops that we had to so far. However, it is becoming more and more obvious that there is no end in sight and every time we do see the light at the end of the tunnel, somebody slams that door shut on us.

I am of the belief that we do have to have a confidence vote in the Premier. I guess how we do that is more the question. I believe we have had to do this since I have seen the report of the special committee. I am on record stating that the report has probably shaken the confidence in the Premier. I do not have a problem, from my standpoint, standing up here and saying that I have confidence in and support the Premier. How we do that is a different matter.

My support for the Premier is not a question in my mind. I believe, like many of the people in the North, that he has worked hard and he has done well for us. My problem is with the process. I do not believe that we, as Members of this House, should be expected to stand up and publicly declare our position. I would like to state to you and the rest of the Members of this House and to the people of the North, why.

First of all, a confidence vote is one of the few tools we have in our tool kit as MLAs to keep the Premier and the Ministers accountable and that cannot be jeopardized. I am concerned that by going through this process and setting a precedent here by doing it publicly that we jeopardize that whole confidence vote issue. A public vote for me does not mean that we will be putting this issue to rest. If it is a closed vote, there will always be questions, questions raised from one point or the other.

A public vote to me is not a free vote. In my opinion, any Minister that does not support the Premier may as well hand in his resignation. That is another reason why I object to having a public vote. As a potential candidate -- and I have already stated that I am not announcing that I am running for Cabinet -- but as a potential candidate, I object to having to swear my support and loyalty to the Premier. I do not believe that it should be a criteria of anyone putting their name forward as a candidate to run for Cabinet.

No other Ministers on the other side of the House had to stand up and declare their loyalty to the Premier when they ran. Why should I? Why should any people who are considering running for a Minister's position do so now?

In my opinion, I am very concerned about how things have unfolded in the last few days. We have seen a lot of pressure being put on the Regular MLAs, a lot of pressure from letters in writing that had a lot of, I would say, threatening overtones. Some Members, I understand, may have been given ultimatums themselves. I will not accept that. I have to stand up for my colleagues and anyone that has been put in a position where they are pressured, I cannot allow this to go on. I do not believe that a public vote or a secret vote at this point is going to result in anything. The end result will be the same, Mr. Speaker.

In my oath to my constituents as a legislator, it requires me to provide my best efforts at effective representation, accountability, honesty, fairness and courtesy. Mr. Speaker, I feel the only way we can do that is through a secret ballot vote. When this motion comes up for a vote, I will be abstaining, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

-- Applause