Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I now know the uncertainties that come with the financial dependencies on the federal government. This hinders our ability to secure well-funded programs and services for our people, and to control our rich territory.

The size of the government cheques that are given to us can only be seen as the stick and the carrot approach to keep the residents in the North and create a deeply-rooted state of dependency on the federal government. With this kind of attitudinal mind of the feds, it is difficult to plan for the years ahead, let alone for the long term. Do we want to cut programs to be fiscally responsible, or do we want to make investments for the future?

Mr. Speaker, the aboriginal self-governments are going to have the same problems. Our people have invested in the land claim process and the self-government framework agreements. Like everyone else, we like to secure long-lasting agreements for our children, that finally recognize our aboriginal rights to our land.

Mr. Speaker, it will be a huge disappointment if our new governments do not have the financial resources to do their job. The GNWT has some ability to absorb sudden adjustments, but this is not without some pain to the regions. How are smaller regions going to be able to cope? The only answer I can see, Mr. Speaker, is for northern governments to have our own sustainable

revenue service charge. Yes, impact and benefits agreements, land access fees and equity ownership in the pipeline will provide our own-source revenues and benefits, but the real security can only come from resource royalties.

---Applause

So I tell the federal government, quit robbing from us. How long...