Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the words of the Premier's opening sessional statement, the next six to 12 months will be critical in determining whether we are successful in negotiating a fair deal with Canada. Mr. Speaker, we, as northerners, here in our communities, where is the beef? We have all of the resources, yet we are beggars in our own land.
Mr. Speaker, my constituency asked for critical, essential, basic services to happen in the Sahtu and other small communities; nurses who need to stay in our communities, youth centres need to be built, youth programs need to be run, taking care of our elders, providing them with some basic care services for our own
people, housing, having policing services like in Colville Lake and Sachs Harbour having the basic security services in our communities, proper infrastructure building, proper roads and bridges. We need some proper buildings in our communities, Mr. Speaker. My Christmas list can go on and on. However, Halloween is coming and I am scared of the boogey man in Ottawa who continues to scare us off with the tricks or treats of goodies.
Mr. Speaker, going back to the quote by our Premier, the next six to 12 months will be very critical for the people in the Northwest Territories. We need some time to gather all of the leaders down the Mackenzie Valley, the municipal and aboriginal leaders, land claim leaders, and we need to focus on some areas to get Ottawa's attention. The best way we need to do and show our people is to start acting our words. We have to put an action plan together, Mr. Speaker. We, as northerners, need to act. When we say to Ottawa, get your hands out of our pocket, as that commercial says on the TV, when will Ottawa cut the cord and let us make our own decisions? In closing, it has been said that to get to the Promised Land, you have to negotiate yourself out of the wilderness to the Promised Land.
Mr. Speaker, when will we, as northerners, stand up and say enough is enough? This is our land and we are calling right now. Thank you.
---Applause