Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk about consensus government. I was reflecting on the comments of a former colleague, Mr. Dent, during a CBC interview this week. When extolling the virtues of consensus government he was raising the Regular Members’ input into the budget process and how we see it before it’s delivered and we should feel honoured to have such a privilege to be that involved. That is one that constantly gets brought up: Well, people in other jurisdictions don’t even see the budget before it comes to the floor and you all do.

There are some really good things about consensus government versus the party system. When it comes to our legislative process it’s pretty clearly defined and seemingly works quite well. So what is it that goes wrong with consensus government that allows initiatives like supplementary health benefits reform, board reform, revenue option, consultations, the ATCO proposal, the Deh Cho Bridge initiative, to get so far down the road and to absorb so much of our

resources only to find out that it is untenable and has no public support and causes the kind of acrimony and stress that we have had to experience recently as legislators?

I am no political scientist, Mr. Speaker, but consensus government fails at some point. You can say that we expect leadership to lead, but that doesn’t mean doing things without support of the Regular Members. I understand the frustration of Cabinet Ministers and the Premier while we expect things to happen, but consensus and building consensus is a lot of work.

We all come here as Regular Members, equal and elected by the people we represent. That election qualifies us to fill any role in this government. So what is lost in the translation when then on bended knee Regular Members have to prod, beg, threaten, question the Executive Council to hear the voice of our people? Often in response to initiatives that they can’t even convince us the merits of, never mind the public. Consensus government to really work does require that effort and leadership. Mr. Speaker, it reminds me that I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, I don’t have a solution to where we go on consensus government, but I must tell you I did have a mental image, while I was driving to work this morning when I was thinking about consensus government, of that little centaur on the Hercules cartoon named Newton who has the head and torso of a human and has the backside of an ass. Mr. Speaker, that is the hybrid that I kind of feel like we are trying to work with here. I won’t lead to any speculation about which side we are. Thank you.