Mr. Chairman, I know the Members of the 14th Assembly, all MLAs take their responsibilities very seriously and in the normal course of action, they have done a thorough work in all the bills and different government initiatives over the last four years. I commend them for that. I mentioned there are three pieces of legislation that requires all of them to be completed. This one is one of the first ones, Bill 34, Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Act. It's something the Tlicho have negotiated and finalized in the life of the 14th Assembly. We felt as a government that we should finish it in the life of this 14th Assembly. In the normal course of action, once the bill has second reading, the committee has 120 days to do their work. In this case, because we are running out of time, the election is happening November 24th, we haven't been able to get the bill here at this stage and we are discussing the bill today. I realize that Members have wanted to have the time to do the work thoroughly, but unfortunately it didn't happen, but we are here. We are dealing with the bill.

We in the government and in the ministry feel that it's really crucial that we do what we set out to do. I know there are commitments by Members of this Legislative Assembly that we will support land claims and self-government processes. Because we are running out of time, we still have an opportunity here to do that. So I am pleased to be here to say these things on behalf of Bill 34. Thank you.