Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank all of my colleagues who chose to speak to the motion today. As I said earlier, Mr. Speaker, I will accept the result of this inquiry and I respect it as well. This motion is the end of this matter for me and I think and I hope that I speak for all the complainants when I say that.
I want to quote, if I can, Mr. Speaker, one final section of Mr. Hughes’ report, which stood out immediately for me when I read it, and I quote Mr. Hughes from page 35 of that report: “The fact is he” -- the Premier -- “did not make the disclosure until he was satisfied that his relationship with Ms. Russell had cemented into a permanent one. What of course was wrong with that was that his primary responsibility to his colleagues in the House, the democratic institution they serve and the maintenance of public confidence and trust of those he was elected to lead took second place during that period of time.”
It is true, Mr. Speaker, that this process has taken some of our time, it’s taken some of our resources, but I want the public to know and I take issue with what some Members had to say that work hasn’t been done by Members of this Legislative Assembly over the past year. Work has certainly been done, Mr. Speaker, and a tremendous amount of work has been done both by my Cabinet
colleagues across the floor and Regular Members of this side of the House who go to committee meetings and do the work on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories. Good work has been getting done. Unfortunately, this issue has clouded things somewhat. It’s been a black cloud that’s been hanging over the building and I’m certainly glad that the report is here, that we can put this to rest and, as many Members have said, move on.
Mr. Speaker, I accept the fact that the Premier’s breach of the act and his error in judgment were conducted in good faith. There are no winners that emerge from this process, and other Members have talked about that, only damage to the integrity of our institution and public confidence in the leadership of this Territory. We all need to make sure that we all take the steps that are necessary to restore that integrity and that confidence that the public has in this institution and this government.
As this matter draws to conclusion, only the Premier can determine the way forward and I’d like to thank the Premier for offering up an apology earlier in these proceedings and I accept the Premier’s what I believe was a heartfelt apology to the people of the Northwest Territories and to the Regular Members on this side of the House and to his Cabinet colleagues as well, Mr. Speaker. I thank him for that. Only he can determine what needs to be done to ensure that the people we represent in the institution we serve no longer take second place to anything.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to make it abundantly clear that we have to work together, and, as was mentioned by other Members, the actions of any Member have an impact on all the other Members of this House as -- I believe it was Mr. Krutko alluded to it -- we all get painted with the same brush. So I just want Members to realize that when something’s happened and you make decisions or you take an action, it could potentially have a negative impact not only on your colleagues, but on the institution in general.
So I wanted to make sure I mention that, as well, and, again, there has been much good work done by this government, by the Regular Members here over the past year while this has been out there, and I wanted to again publicly thank Mr. Hughes, the Premier, his counsel, the complainants who signed the initial letter and, like I said earlier, my constituents and the residents in the Northwest Territories who have lent their support to me throughout this process and to my family. This is a trying thing on everybody, Mr. Speaker. I spent all weekend thinking about today and it certainly is draining. I’ve obviously got many other things I can be doing at home other than thinking about this motion coming up today and trying to put some closure on this and move this forward.
So, again, I just wanted to thank everybody that’s involved. I know it’s been trying on everybody and I do believe we have lots of opportunity here to work together and to move this operation forward in a positive direction. Again, I wanted to say thank you as well, Mr. Speaker, for your work as well. Thank you.