Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d just like to note for the record that there was no consultation with the rural and remote communities, the Aboriginal governments. The consultation process in which the majority of the Members you talk about are Aboriginal by way of the Rangers program. I think it’s important to realize that that level of government has not been consulted. The only consultation that has taken place was here in Yellowknife. I think it’s important that any legislation that comes through this House, every effort should be made to consult with all residents of the Northwest Territories and not only here in Yellowknife.

I think because of that, that’s why we requested that you do implement the hardship clause, because the Rangers in our communities do play a very important role not only in the areas of being Rangers, but they are the key employers or employees in our communities that operate the municipal governments. They also serve in the different fields such as housing maintainers. I think

because of the importance of these individuals in a lot of our communities, that if they happen to leave for a long period of time, it could have a major implication on the operation and maintenance of community delivered programs and services. That’s why I insisted that there has to be a hardship clause in there, to ensure that we do allow for the communities and the individuals to realize that you have an important role in both fields, not only as a Ranger but as a community provider by way of programs and services that we depend on.

Again, I’d just like to note for the record that there was no consultation with First Nations governments, yet we hear a lot about groups or percentage of groups in the Northwest Territories that haven’t been consulted. In this case it’s a good illustration of how we forgot about the 50 percent of the population that we represent and only consultation taking place here in Yellowknife.