Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This agreement is the next in a series that we have seen come through for First Nations in the Northwest Territories. It was preceded in very light measure by the Nunavut land claim and self-government agreement which I think, in large measure, are mirrors of that kind of thing. We all experienced that over the course of many years.

When I came to the North as a boy and through the '60s and '70s, the recognition and acceptance of this as the right thing to do was something I grew up with and it was part of my history, my heritage and my pride of being a Northerner. So my support for the intent and the objective and spirit of the Tlicho agreement is solid. It's absolute. I experienced the hospitality and generosity of my colleague, Mr. Lafferty. He took me out in his boat and we joined a flotilla of Tlicho people and traveled from Fort Simpson to Tulita to the Dene annual assembly. It was a memorable time for me and my daughter who was 14 at the time.

Earlier this year, in May, we traveled to Rae to join in a celebration of the, the amazing result of...Well, the result wasn't amazing, but the event was amazing, to experience the joy in the room in the school or the hall in Rae when the numbers came in signaling such overwhelming acceptance of the agreement. Then again in August when the Prime Minister and many other people came to Rae for the signing. This is something that will be good for not only the Tlicho and the four communities, the neighbouring communities, which is Yellowknife, but it will be good for the region and it will be good for Yellowknife.

I say that, Mr. Chairman, because I hope to convince people that I am an advocate and a supporter of this, but we reflect and mirror the concerns of my colleagues who have spoken before me that there is in this a very significant part of the process that is now before us. That is the opportunity of all citizens to have a direct review and input into our law-making process. That is the standard that has been developed over how many years, how many centuries of democracy and in the Commonwealth and making these laws and making these rules for society. I am counselling, Mr. Chairman, in the discussions I have had with my peers and further people in Yellowknife and with my constituents, that this is a standard to which we should hold.

Constituents have come to rely, Mr. Chairman, on the opportunity in any law that we make to have the opportunity to visit it through public hearings. I would underline that direct input is a fundament of our institution. We break faith, Mr. Chairman, we break faith with our constituents if we forego that. Oftentimes we do, of course, because bills and things are often of a nature that are of little consequence. We have done adequate consultation with the stakeholders or people we know would be interested. We have tested that thoroughly. This is not such a bill. We cannot forego that requirement for open opportunity for people to look and see.

An interesting case has been made in this situation where this law or these three bills will not be created in the normal inside government process. It involves other agencies. It involves the Government of Canada and, of course, the Tlicho. So our ability to make changes and accept input is not really the same as it is in other laws. It is an interesting notion and not an inaccurate one.

It's been suggested that perhaps what we need to have if we are going to have a different process of building these laws, we have to have a different process of reviewing and passing them. That may be something that our successors will consider. In fact, we just passed a motion a couple of days ago, Mr. Chairman, directing our Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures to look at a number of things including the implementation of self-government and I believe this is one.

This time, Mr. Chairman, the people who have come to rely on the opportunity for people to have an open look at law making, I think they've been caught by surprise, they've been caught unawares because they didn't know that that opportunity could potentially be denied them in the case of this bill. We should not try to say at this late date after the fact, if you will, that we did something different before, so we can change the way we are going to do business now. I don't believe that that does our institution any good. It's not the kind of job that I was elected to do and I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, but I will not be able to accept that we pass this bill without taking it to the public and giving them the fullest and normal opportunity. This is not a delay. This is not a doubt in whether this is the right thing to do. This is our normal process. I would advocate, Mr. Chairman, that faith and trust in this institution some people would say is not all that evident at the best of times. It's eroded every time we take some kind of shortcut or say we are going to do things different this time. I can't allow us to veer from that course.

So I, too, will be listening carefully to the answers that may help us get some sort of understanding, but I cannot accept that this is a bill that we can responsibly pass through this Assembly given the implications of our constituents that I know and I have faith that the next assembly can take this up and pass it. They can give it the full review, the full opportunity that it deserves and I believe, Mr. Chairman, have it passed. There are two other consequential bills to this that will be much larger and more sophisticated and we can't have all that work done in time for the implementation of the Tlicho agreement to begin, and begin efficiently and effectively. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.