Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to make special note of red Friday. I always like to wear red on Fridays to show my support for our troops and their families, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to participate as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in what is a unique consensus system of government. Although the consensus system has many advantages, I believe that for it to continue its relevance, it must change and evolve with the needs of the North. I strongly encourage the 16th Assembly to seriously look at changes they may be able to make to continue consensus vitality in the sense of moving forward for our future.

We are truly an anomaly, Mr. Speaker, in that our current Premier, who was acclaimed as an MLA by his constituents and then acclaimed in his position in the House, achieved becoming voted as Premier without casting one vote. Now, of course, Premier Handley has served us very well and his comments are no reflection of his performance. However, one change I believe would greatly strengthen our system of governance is if we elected our Premier at large. A Premier elected at large would have the advantage of a clear mandate from across the Northwest Territories.