Thank you, Madam Chair. I also want to express my appreciation and respect for the work that the commission members did in making their recommendations.
Madam Chair, in looking at this issue I've talked to many of my constituents and I've also thought long and hard about this issue. There are three main issues that I took into consideration. First of all, how many people can we represent? I had to look at some of the provinces and the federal government, the size of constituencies, and I have to say that the number of people that each of us represent, whether it's in Yellowknife or in some of the smaller communities, is quite low compared to what you see across the country.
A second question is how do we achieve a balance and ensure that voters in any constituency in the Territories are fairly and equitably represented?
The third one, in my view, is cost.
Looking at the issue of balance, I think it's important that voters, constituents, no matter where they live, have fair representation. I recognize and I appreciate the challenges that MLAs who represent multiple communities have compared to those of us in Yellowknife, and I appreciate that the numbers in Yellowknife are probably higher than they are in the smaller communities. But I have to say that just adding more MLAs is not the only way of ensuring a balance in representation. I think if there's a problem with cost of travel, or time in travel and so on, then there are other ways of handling that. But there are ways of increasing the travel allowances for people who represent the smaller communities or a number of communities within their constituencies.
Looking at the number of people we can represent, as I say, it's low. I think we could theoretically represent many more than the two to three thousand people that most of us have.
My belief is that 19 MLAs can represent the Northwest Territories very well, but this isn't just a matter of numbers. I don't think we should be concerned about increasing the numbers simply because we want to avoid a court challenge. That's a wrong way of looking at it, from my view. We shouldn't be doing this just to stay out of court. If we're going to increase, then increase it because we genuinely believe we need more people in order to represent the constituents that we all have.
This comes to the issues of cost as being a main one for me. It costs a lot of money to add another one or two more MLAs, and I don't think it stops there. I don't think if we don't go status quo, we'll be looking at more than one, most likely; probably more than two additional MLAs. That costs money. Madam Chair, I can tell you that if that happens, then I suspect in the 16th Assembly there's going to be a move then to increase the number of people on Cabinet; more cost if we go that direction. Madam Chair, if we don't take the cost of government seriously in this House ourselves, then how can we criticize the government departments and the rest of government for growth? We're as guilty as anybody else is. So, Madam Chair, I have difficulty with the issue of cost.
Basically, my view is that 19 can represent very well, but if it's the will of the MLAs in here that we need more, then my position would be that we have to go to 21. We have to go to the report recommendations if it's more than the 19. I could not see increasing another one outside of a large centre like Yellowknife and then not doing anything in Yellowknife. I think that creates an imbalance and an unfairness that has already been tested. It's not out of fear of a court challenge, but it is because there was a lot of thought and work put into creating a balance and we should maintain that. Thank you, Madam Chair.