Thank you, Madam Chair. This discussion at this point is fairly significant and the number… Well, these two numbers that we’re discussing has a positive ring to it, 1921, it’s rather ironic. I wanted to say at least, and impart a message to the people that I represent in my language, I know we’ve heard the Chipewyan language and the Dogrib language, but equally so I wanted to share a perspective with the constituents back home that have asked me to be here to be their representative. So I’d like to take that opportunity.
[English translation not provided.]
Madam Chair, I think here in the NWT, the federal government views the Northwest Territories… It’s not a real name, it’s a reference to a bearing or a point somewhere in Canada north of here. It’s north of Ottawa, it’s west of Ottawa and it’s somewhere in Rupert’s Land, so it’s called the Northwest Territories, but it is home and it’s a community that we make up. That’s the view that I try to uphold in terms of ensuring that we have not only our small communities that we represent, but we have to acknowledge the fact that we have a capital city in the NWT as well. So the challenge is trying to always balance in terms of what it is that the small communities need at the same time as the larger centres. So that’s why we’re mandated to be representatives and make this House work in the spirit of consensus.
Upon my initial consideration of this motion, yes indeed, the constituents that I serve have indicated a favour to maintain the status quo. Yes, I agree. However, the last Assembly maintained the status quo and here we are again and under duress, because if we maintain the status quo, the likelihood of a court challenge is real and we need to be very cognizant of that. Perhaps that’s a reality that we have to contend with at some point. What we can’t forget is, sure, they all have voting rights, they all have voting rights and now there’s treaty and Aboriginal rights, court and First Nations rights. At the same time the non-Aboriginal people have assurances under the Constitution and the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, but what it’s predicated on and what it’s premised on is the idea of multiculturalism, that it’s an inclusion, it’s a community that we all represent. If we make one big fire, all of us have to converge and centre around that fire. I think that’s the spirit that most of our elders have told us, that we need to ensure we remember the spirit of inclusion.
In that same light, there are parallels in terms of a First Nation road and a non-Aboriginal road, but the thing about it here in the North, it’s a duality in that we try to work with each other, and we have to work with each other to try to make this community strong and united and work for the better interest of the people that have put us here for the North.
One thing that I do have to acknowledge and we have to remember, it’s people from the communities and the regions that make Yellowknife their home. I have relatives here and I lived here in Yellowknife too. We can’t forget about that. So there’s a trend of people moving to Yellowknife, and for those reasons I feel the scenario of ensuring that 21 MLAs in the end is a decision that I will support, despite the sense that we’re caught in a trap, that there’s a legal ruling, an undue duress that’s hanging over our heads. I take exception to that, but the larger decision is that I don’t support the idea of 19 MLAs. I think the real and practical decision, the best scenario is 21 MLAs.