Mr. Speaker, as you indicated in your remarks at the beginning of today's session, 27 years ago, this House, this Assembly assumed full elected responsibility for the business of the NWT. I would like to remark on an aspect of that, and that is confidence in our affairs and in our business. Confidence, Mr. Speaker, in the consensus system of government that we are fortunate to have, I believe, and one that so many other parts of Canada and I think the Commonwealth are fascinated by.
Mr. Speaker, as we go about our business from day to day, issue by issue, the decisions we make I think are, in small or large part, a gauge of the confidence level that we have in ourselves as MLAs and in our consensus system.
Once in a while, we are also inclined, Mr. Speaker, to challenge individuals on their capacities, especially on leadership. Challenges of this nature should not be dismissed. They should not be taken lightly. Mr. Speaker, neither should the singular opinion, or even that of a small group here in the Legislative Assembly be elevated or interpreted as any more than that.
I am a defender and I think we all are defenders of the right of each of us to speak our minds as, when and how we wish. That is democracy and it is part of our consensus system.
However, I believe it is also one of the weaknesses of our system, that we can so easily be diverted and distracted from the bigger issues of the day and of our times by this singular and very powerful individual ability that we have to speak our minds.
However, it is also a strength of the consensus system that we do not have to deal with the complications and the rancour or the filters that are imposed as we go about our business if we had a partisan system of government, Mr. Speaker.
I am an advocate of a consensus system, but we all have to work at it, Mr. Speaker, to avoid the threats to our unity, our effectiveness and the promises that we made as an Assembly at our start just over two years ago. Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to conclude my statement.