Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, as several of my colleagues have done before me, I want to highlight the Electoral Boundaries Commission and the consultations that are currently in progress across the NWT.

The Electoral Boundaries Commission is established every eight years to review our NWT electoral boundaries and ridings. The commission considers the populations of our current ridings and determines if all ridings are equitable. It recommends possible changes to the Legislative Assembly, and the Assembly then debates the issue and does or does not make changes to the NWT Elections Act.

The commission is currently trying to decide whether the territory should lose one electoral district, add two more, or keep the current 19 electoral districts. The commission has an interim report and they are seeking feedback on the report from residents on the three options that are put forward in that report.

A public meeting was held about a month ago here in Yellowknife, to hear that kind of feedback. Unfortunately, it was extremely poorly attended. A second meeting is scheduled for tomorrow evening, March 12th , at 7:00 p.m. at Range Lake School and

I hope to see many more Yellowknifers out this time so that the commission hears Yellowknifers’ views. Why should people bother to go? This is important to all Yellowknife residents because it affects how they are represented in the Legislative Assembly.

The city of Yellowknife is currently under-represented here. This city has 50 percent of the population of the NWT but only 37 percent of the seats in this Legislature. Is this a concern for Yellowknifers? If so, you Yellowknifers have to let the commission hear your views. It’s not enough to contact your MLA. The commission needs to hear from residents because silence is generally taken as assent. Do Yellowknifers feel that our city gets its fair share of the GNWT budget and resources? If not, would more Yellowknife Members help to right that imbalance? The commission won’t know if you don’t tell them.

The commission’s interim report can be viewed at www.nwtboundaries.ca. Check it out and then consider attending tomorrow night. Get involved and be heard. All views, both pro and con, should be provided to the commission to guide their discussions in the development of their final report. I hope to see a full to overflowing room tomorrow night at Range Lake North School.