Thank you, Madam Chair. Some Members have spoken. Just for the record, I will be voting in support of this motion.
I know some Members spoke earlier about representation in Yellowknife. I feel that Yellowknife does have good representation here. The Member brought it forward last year that there should be signs that are put up in the city because members don’t know who their MLAs are. For me that’s a clear indicator that possibly there are too many MLAs in Yellowknife because people don’t know who their MLAs are. No disrespect, but that’s pretty clear, just in my opinion.
One thing that seems so simple to me is why can we not change the number of constituents we represent. Why can’t we change it to 4,500 residents? That would make things so simple, but yet it seems like we are asking for too much to do that. There is actually an added benefit for Yellowknife MLAs to support the 21 seats as there will most likely be… They are saving another seat in Cabinet. Whether that has a lot to do with how the vote goes, that’s to be determined. But that’s just the way things operate here. It’s with no disrespect that I do support 19 Members, because I have the highest respect for the Tlicho. Some people here may say they are under-represented,
but the way I see it, the Tlicho have great representation because the Tlicho are the only Aboriginal group in the territory that are self-governing. The Tlicho people have this similar structure that they operate their government in. To me, they have a lot more representation than any of us here may lead on. I have the fullest respect for the Tlicho people.
Just to the report, it states on page 10 that some individuals question the need to undertake this process at all. Some did not want any changes that would affect their current electoral district. Also, some people believe the process shouldn’t occur until all land claims and self-government negotiations are concluded. Some believe no changes should be made until after devolution is implemented. Madam Chair, I just wanted to stress that. With that, I will be voting in favour of this motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.