Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I support this motion. Mr. Speaker, there was a wrong. It is wrong when you give an individual more than that individual deserved. It is wrong when you circumvent existing processes and employment contracts and negotiate a new contract that gives more than that individual deserves.

One of the federal institutions that help us govern ourselves made a report that says the government did not act with justification or prudence. To address that issue, Mr. Speaker, we started a process. That process was to ask the Premier to step down in a voting scenario. That was defeated. This is the other option that is available to us.

Mr. Speaker, as I stated earlier today, I believe 90 percent of the people who work for the GNWT do not have faith in the government that they work for. With that kind of dissension, how can I expect the people who work for us to follow the direction that we give them? How can I expect our constituents to have faith in us when we try to lead them, and tell them, you know, because of the decisions we make, we cannot help you out because we do not have the money. We do not have the money because we made poor choices. We do not have the money because, hey, does it matter?

The people need to believe in the government that leads them, not only in the Northwest Territories but we have to have credibility outside of the territorial boundaries. We have to have credibility in Ottawa when we go to the Minister of DIAND saying we need more resources, when we go to the Minister of the Environment and say hey, we need to participate in your process, but we need more resources.

We need to have credibility of the Minister of Natural Resources when we say transfer the responsibility to us, as is being discussed right now. We need to have credibility in this office, in this institution when we go on behalf of our constituents and negotiate with the aboriginal governments and the federal government on devolution. By acting like a banana republic, circumventing existing policies, rules and laws, and giving more than what is required, and negotiating a clause within a termination agreement that gives more, that puts government in harm's way. I never saw that before, where a clause is negotiated to the agreement that says if you do not get the money, come and sue us we will pay your lawyer bills. That is not in the best interest of this government. That is not in the best interest of the people of the Northwest Territories.

We have to deliver programs and services that are badly needed. We need housing -- major, major housing. We need to reform our education system so that our students can participate in the labour market that is available today.

We have long line-ups in Health and Social Services. We cannot address those issues with a poor, unaccountable government. We know what we contribute to Canada. We could be a have society, but it is going to be that much more difficult to be a have society if society within Canada does not trust us to make the right judgments.

Mr. Speaker, we have a fairly good idea on this side of the House how the vote is going to turn out. We speak on this and we put this motion forward based on principle -- the principle of accountability and good governance.

We have to have the perception that we are representing our constituents. There is a silent majority out there that is disgusted with how these things have played out. Unfortunately, because of time and other commitments, we cannot go out and poll everybody. We cannot go find out from every individual citizen in the Northwest Territories that will give us some idea of how they feel. I know my constituents want to see responsible and accountable government. They want to see a Premier who is able to make good judgment on their behalf. They want to be able to make sound decisions based on timely information that is provided to me through the Cabinet, but I have been misled in this House, I believe, on more than one occasion. I cannot make sound decisions based on misinformation, Mr. Speaker.

We all hear all the time that if you get elected to the Legislative Assembly, or any other government that has a four-year mandate, that the last year is pretty much a year that you cannot get anything done, because that is a campaign year. Why do we not take the last year and cut it in half and cut it by three quarters and let's go to the elections. We do have some issues we have to deal with. We have the Human Rights Bill in front of us. I am Chair of the special committee that is reviewing the Official Languages Act. We plan to submit a report during the next session of the Assembly. It is going to require some commitment and hard work by this government to implement. But, with a looming deficit, Mr. Speaker, can we expect that to happen?

We have another special committee that is looking at the relationship between the small, non-tax-based communities with the government, and they have great needs that we have to address. Can they trust us to do that if our government is not accountable and if our bureaucracy is not following through with our direction because of a lack of respect and certainty? I say no, Mr. Speaker. So why not? What is the big difference between November of 2003 and February, 2003? A few months. I say we do not waste that time. I say let's go to the polls. Let's get a new government, a new mandate and achieve what we said we were going to do on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories with a clear conscience and with the support of our bureaucracy and the people we represent, Mr. Speaker.

With that, I will support this motion. Mahsi cho.