Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, would like to thank Justice John Vertes, Mr. Eddie Erasmus and Mr. Rod O'Brien for their work on this report. We can see, from reading it, that they travelled across the Northwest Territories to give voters a chance to have their say in the structure of this, the Legislative Assembly, this political institution. I agree that it's necessary for the commission to give the public an opportunity to be heard. I know it's challenging to come up with unanimous recommendations, given the competing positions advanced by members of the public, so I think it's important to note that the members of this commission were unanimous in their recommendations.

As they outlined in the report, they heard about the unique nature of the Northwest Territories with its diversity, its different cultures and its regional interests. They also took note of the various criteria set out in the act that they have to keep in mind, which includes things like geographic factors, including the accessibility size or shape of any area, community boundaries, facilities for and patterns of transportation. So it wasn't just the population that they looked at.

But, Madam Chair, the report also points out that equality of voting power is still the most important factor to be considered in setting electoral boundaries for public government. I think it's important that we remember that the commission is independent of the Legislative Assembly and government, and is consultative only. The commission notes in their report that it's up to this Assembly to decide which, if any, of the recommendations that should be accepted.

But having done that, they remind us of section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which says that everybody has a right to vote, and they talk about what that means and how that's been clearly established in various court decisions across Canada. Madam Chair, I accept that it's impossible to achieve absolute voter parity in the Northwest Territories, given all the factors that must be considered, and I also accept that Yellowknife voters have much easier access to their MLAs than do most voters in the Northwest Territories.

The other point that the commission report makes is that the weight of Yellowknife voters right now is likely adequate, given the availability of Yellowknife MLAs to their constituents. I have to say that most of the advice that I've received at my constituency meetings, in conversation or by e-mail agree with what the commission heard from the majority of presenters in Yellowknife, and that is that we don't need more than 19 seats in the NWT Legislative Assembly. I know that I certainly heard from constituents who said that they also were not prepared to see any reduction in voting weight. So if a new constituency is to be added outside of Yellowknife, then there must be one within Yellowknife.

Madam Chair, we also heard that the commission had its strongest presentation for an additional riding in Monfwi, and my colleague Mr. Lafferty has very eloquently pressed the case for an additional seat with me. I understand that he's under some pressure from his constituents and the leadership in that region to push for another seat. I think what this had done in part, Madam Chair, because I recognize, as do my constituents, the

cost of adding seats in the Legislative Assembly is that in hindsight I think we should have given the commission one more guideline. I think we should have asked the commission to make recommendations for us that would keep the seats at 19, while perhaps taking into account those requests like we're hearing from areas like Monfwi, and looking at areas where we have overrepresentation right now in our constituencies. I would certainly suggest that a guideline like that be considered for the next commission and, if not, we'll soon be well over 24 Members in the not-too-distant future.

Madam Chair, since we didn't do that and in order to accommodate the very strong wishes of the residents of Monfwi, personally, I support the recommendations of the commission, and I would say that we tasked the commission to listen to people across the Northwest Territories. I point out that the majority of the members on that commission come from outside Yellowknife, and again say that their recommendations are unanimous. So because of that, I am prepared to support the recommendations of the commission for adding two seats.

I must say, though, that one thing I can't support from the recommendation is the name that they proposed for the new constituency of Pud Lake. I think that may be, or may have been in the past, a tailings pond and I'm not certain that it would be appropriate to name a constituency that. So if we are considering amendments that would see another constituency in Yellowknife, I will be proposing a different name than Pud Lake for it. Thank you, Madam Chair.