Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to encourage Northerners to talk to your MLAs. I’ve been sensing a lot of despair around here lately about we’re kind of saddled with the situation we have right now. We’re saddled with the leadership and the circumstances around the past two years that we’ve had in this government.
In fact, I don’t believe that’s true, in spite of Mr. Miltenberger’s characterization of the unhappiness on this side of the House as being bitterness and creating acrimony. In fact, I see the majority, if not almost all Members of this House, as being honourable Members who have been elected to come here and do a job on behalf of their people. I see nothing but good motives and a true desire to do the best that we can to represent our people.
The fact of the matter is we can’t bury our heads in the sand and act like nothing is out of order here, that there are no leadership problems in this government. If we are sensing that, the people out there who are our constituents must be sensing that as well. I mean, this kind of hits an all-time new low for this Government of the Northwest Territories, what we’ve had to experience. It didn’t start last week, it didn’t start a month ago. It started at the beginning of the 16th Assembly and I’m not going to
stand here today and recite the whole list of all the failures when it comes to leadership. But now things have sunk to a really all-time low.
We can choose to ignore it. We can try to brush it under the carpet. About a year ago I stood up in this House and I said, you know, I’m not out to get the Premier. And I said I don’t want the job. I don’t see anybody else over there that I want to see have that job either. I said that about a year ago. But you know what? A year has gone by. I’ve gotten to know quite a few Members better. I do think we have options. There are alternatives. But it’s going to take the backbone and the leadership of the collective membership here to stand up and say, you know what? We have some problems here. We need to deal with them. Let’s face it head on. Let’s go for a change of leadership here. We have got people capable of stepping into that role. We do. But it’s just going to take the backbone to stand up and say we need a change.
So we don’t want to operate in a vacuum. What I’m asking the people of the Northwest Territories today, who are observing this and must also feel despair over the situation, is to get in touch with your MLA. Voice your opinion. I know in saying that I’m going to take flack too because there are lots of people out there who don’t like me, but I’m willing to take that. I have to stand up and say enough is enough. We deserve better.