Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the mover, Mr. Bromley, and the seconder, Mr. Nadli, for bringing this motion forward as it is deserving of a spirited and fair debate in the House today.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to applaud all groups and residents who have commented on federal Bill C-15 leading up to today’s debate.

First of all, is this bill a perfect bill? I think many would say anything that provokes any type of change or provides a different vision is never truly perfect in design, as we are finding out. I know from other polls or speaking to many residents of Range Lake or Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, I found most are in favour of devolution and moving forward as we mature with province-like powers.

I don’t want to go into the detail of the bill or regurgitate the pillars behind the new federal legislation, as this is not my duty as an elected official of this House. Instead, I want to offer some general collective thoughts that I have received from many of my residents in preparation for today.

Many agree that we have much to learn and a lot more work ahead of us as we face the many challenges of resource potential. As a Northerner concerned about ensuring the future of our territory, I respect and understand the positions of Aboriginal governments and their current land claim agreements.

That said, there are still a number of incorrect or misleading ideologies that are surfacing that suggest our environmental process will be left in the hands of potentially unfamiliar people with some of these proposed changes. I believe we have seen improved processes with our land and water boards, as a general rule, and I believe we are striving for a territory for greater efficiency putting us, in my humble opinion, at the same level playing field as other jurisdictions such as our sister territory of the Yukon.

I also believe we still have a number of issues that need to be ironed out to make our mining and oil and gas sector a lot more effective. I don’t believe all our hopes and dreams are within the creation of a single board of the Mackenzie Valley as I believe this would be a tall order.

However, I believe this new concept should allow us to focus on more efficiency and, all the while, hopeful that we are able to concentrate and further develop our land use plans and have strong, continued negotiations for our unsettled land claims.

I firmly believe that all 33 communities and the regions of the NWT will continue to have the same, if not more, opportunities for effective management and dialogue in a post-devolution environment when home rule of our resources is managed right here in our backyard.

I wish to leave the Members of the House with a small excerpt from a presentation to the House of Commons’ standing committee on Bill C-15 from our very own NWT Chamber of Commerce as I

believe it summarizes my final thought quite eloquently.

“In our view, Bill C-15 is the next logical and biggest single step forward in the devolution of powers of our territorial government in history. We are a resource-based economy. Managing our resources effectively and creating a healthy investment climate will support a strong local and national economy and provide significant benefits to all communities and to all residents. Bill C-15 is a new beginning for the Northwest Territories.”

Mr. Speaker, and colleagues, given the complex and very direct narrative within the context of this motion that is being asked of the GNWT to undertake, I will not be supporting this motion today. Mahsi.