Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my Member's statement is going to be on the issue of our regions coming to age, Mr. Speaker. I have had the opportunity of being able to accompany the Minister of MACA, Mr. McLeod, and also Premier Handley, leader of the Government of the Northwest Territories, to attend the Association of Municipalities meeting in Norman Wells, along with my colleague, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, the issue I am talking about is in our regions, the smaller communities; they seem to be lacking certain basic essential services that other centres have in their communities. Still in our region alone, in the Sahtu, we are playing catch up, the catch up region that, in terms of services, programs, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the quality of living we have. The mayor of Tulita talked about going to the Northern Store and buying a loaf of bread for $6. It costs even more to make bread in Tulita and those are the prices that we have to live with. It seems to be that our region seems to be lacking the support, Mr. Speaker.
The people in the Sahtu are light years ahead in terms of things that they can do from the South. This is the 21st Century, but some of the government programs are still in the 18th and 19th centuries. Look at the Colville Lake Health Centre. Look at the services of no RCMP in Colville Lake in this day and age. Some of the other communities in the Northwest Territories have those services and it is good for those communities because they require it, so why not in the Sahtu region at this time, day and age, if activity is happening in the region there? We don't have those types of services and the government can, if they want to, bring those services into the community.
Our region has been babysat for too long by other regions. Look at the Department of Transportation. The Inuvik office for the air and transportation is in Fort Smith, but other departments are babysitting our region. We want some autonomy. We want to control our lives. We want to do what is right for the people of the Northwest Territories. There is lots of activity. So let's give back to the region that deserves and not be isolated. Thank you.
---Applause