Yet we are spending major dollars with regard to larger centres by way of institutions

to institutionalize the majority of clients who come from the smaller communities; our jail facilities. There is talk about putting more facilities in place. If you want to talk about distribution of wealth, you should also talk about the possibility of distribution of governments. There are 5,000 employees in the government that are in the larger, regional centres which has an effect on the larger population base.

Mr. Lafferty touched on the representation of the number of aboriginal people that he represents that live here in Yellowknife. I have the same dilemma where we have over 200 enrolled members living in Yellowknife from the Gwich'in claim and the Inuvialuit people. They do come to me when they have issues. At the end of the day, it comes down to the cost of doing government. By having a bigger government, does that improve the quality of services and programs to the residents of the Northwest Territories? From what we have seen, no, it doesn't. What we have are have and have-not communities, since the court decision was made. For me, that's probably the most visual aspect of what has happened since we divided from Nunavut. The challenge to us is how can we turn this tidal wave around and find a system that works for all the people in the Northwest Territories, ensures that everybody has the same programs and services, ensures the lives of our residents are being upheld, it doesn't matter where you live.