Thank you, Madam Chair. I feel very honoured to be speaking to Bill 46, Deline Final Self-Government Agreement Act. First of all, I would just like to congratulate the people from the community of Deline for their hard work and moving forward on this bill. As the Premier and my colleague Mr. Yakeleya have said, it is a historic event and actually a very historical bill in being that it’s the first stand-alone community-based self-government in the history of the Northwest Territories. I believe it will set a standard for other communities in the Northwest Territories to look at the work that Deline has done and the negotiating team and working with our government to move the process along so that more of our communities can start taking responsibility of the work that they do, and getting the decision-making powers that they need to do the best work that they can do for the people that they serve and the people that they work with.

I also know the hard work that goes into this process of self-government from our government, from the negotiating team and from the federal government. At one time I was a field worker for the Gwich’in self-government, which is still being negotiated. That just shows how long the process is taking. I just want to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, commitment and persistence from the negotiating teams on all governments. I know it’s a very lengthy process to be sitting at the table. I really appreciate the hard work to get us where we are today and to get the Deline people where they are today in terms of taking on those new powers.

Not too much further to say. I think Mr. Yakeleya and the Premier captured it very well in bringing this bill before us. One thing that I do want to say is I wish the people of Deline the best of luck taking on the responsibilities for education, health, justice, and as it rolls out I’ll be keeping a good eye on it because I think it’s going to really show what our communities can do because a lot of our communities are very strong, very traditional, very cultural, and I think we’re going to see some really strong benefits in the Sahtu region that will serve to make our NWT a better place to be and a better place to live.

I want to thank, as I said, all the negotiating teams and, with that, congratulate the people of Deline once again.