Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, also I would like to convey my strong support for this motion in terms of what the GNWT can do to help with this issue that has some global interest, some global speakers such as Al Gore.

Mr. Speaker, again, I recall a time when some elders spoke in my region and the elders talked about how they have seen changes in our lifetime in terms of the land, the way we live, how we read the weather, how we use the water, the type of animals that we see and the types of things that come about. Mr. Speaker, through no fault of any, we are living in a changing society and changing lifestyle. Even the elders are saying that, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this motion speaks to how the GNWT can do its part in terms of managing the greenhouse gas emissions. Again, the elders have talked about the things we need to do, how we are to be responsible for our lives here. The elders talked about how we say everything is in relation to us. In some of our prayers, we say all our relations. I asked the elders, what is it they mean by all our relations? They have talked about that we have a relationship with the land, with the people. We have a relationship with the water, the air and the sun, things that grow on this land that we have, especially a relationship to them and that we owe it to them as people. So when we have prayers and we give thanks to the animals and give thanks to the water that we drink or the air that we breathe and things that help us survive as a nation of people and all northern people. In our prayers, we say all our relationships, because we have relationships that are given to us through our own ceremonies and our own private rituals. They always tell us to respect and honour. Sometimes we forget these things. Some things that we forget, we don't think it's going to be a problem because we don't think it's that great. It's only by observation and noticing different things on the land and paying real close attention to the elders that they take notice and we have to speak on their behalf because they are asking us to support them.

Climate change is going to affect the land and the water. It will make life harder for our people and the animals. We are going to be under a lot of pressure the next couple of years, Mr. Speaker, in terms of how we deal with this issue. This motion talks about the management of land and water and putting it right and getting it right by the people of the Northwest Territories. I am really concerned because of the recent development again by the government and the tar sands down in Alberta. There was little regard for us by our friends in Alberta, especially around Great Slave Lake. There are a lot of good people and this lake is really beneficial to a lot of people. We have to find a balance and I don't think we have a strong enough balance to find within this conditional agreement that is going to the Alberta tar sands project. I am scared because when we say enough is enough in terms of the quality and quantity of our water, I think sometimes we might be a little late on this issue here.

Mr. Speaker, this motion talks about the climate change and the warmer weather, the different types of snow we have this year and even the freezing up of different lakes that we have to be very careful. I would like to look at how this motion, more importantly how is the government going to help us deal with the issues in terms of forest fires, weather changes and how are they going to help us with some of our traditions along with our scientific knowledge and how we get things right for our people in the Northwest Territories. Will our children have a good life in the future once we are done here? Will they have a life they can depend on?

In closing, Mr. Speaker, we bought some bottled water and the bottled water was bottled in Chicago, California and the last bottle of water we bought was in B.C. We got to a point now where we are getting water from Chicago, California and B.C. I think it was in the newspaper saying the best water is tap water. Here in the Northwest Territories, it's mind boggling that when I was 10 or 12 years old in Tulita, they said we are going to buy bottled water in the future. At 10 or 12 years old, you go down to the Bear River, even the old dirty Mackenzie water makes really good coffee in the morning and great tea in the morning. I never ever thought that at this day and age in the Territories, we would buy bottled water in Chicago, California or B.C. Our tap water is really good. Yet are we not telling our people to drink tap water? We certainly encourage them to go to the stores and say it's okay to buy bottled water.

So climate change really means a lot. I really wanted to say that I hope this government does something with this motion in terms of helping our children. Thank you.

---Applause