I just wanted to take the opportunity just to say briefly in my language in terms of the topic of discussion at this point, just for the sake of our Aboriginal listeners. [English translation not provided.]
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The mandate is essentially the agenda, or the work plan, of this government for the next four years. I support the mandate, the spirit and intent of ensuring that we have an agenda in the next four years in terms of addressing the priorities of the people of the NWT, ensuring that the families and individuals in our communities are well taken care of. That's basically the mandate that we have. Almost to a degree, it's a reflection of what we've come up with today in our efforts in terms of making the consensus government work. I see it as a positive step forward. It's an exercise that we have to routinely do to ensure that we do have some goals that we set for ourselves for the next four years on behalf of the people. The priority of the mandate, of course, and I'll focus on the big picture in saying that, too, as part of our constituency, we have some real immediate needs. Sometimes it's challenging to focus on the big picture, but at the same time when you have some very pressing and immediate needs, it's hard to focus on and keep focusing on the big picture, when there are struggles in the communities that we have to address. For those reasons I support this whole initiative, but at the same time, I remind my colleagues that we come from small communities, most of us, and geographically, of course, small communities are isolated. My hope is that, through this document, those small communities will not be isolated from opportunities. That along with the bigger centres like Yellowknife and Fort Simpson or Hay River, small communities will be still in the forefront of this agenda. I'm hoping to see that in the next four years. In terms of priorities, of course, just to name a few, there are small communities. There's need for jobs. We have some issues in terms of regarding youth. Housing continues to be a big issue. We need to move on and ensure that those priorities are met on behalf of the people. Trying to draw at least some closing remarks, the mandate is of course developed through the efforts of everyone here, and, of course, it's based on our campaign, what we've heard from the people of the NWT. It's essentially the agenda for the GNWT, but it's being led by the cabinet. At the same time, as Regular Members, we need to make sure that the public sector and the government officials that do implement this plan. That we all keep in contact keep the lines of communication open, for the better interest of the public to be served. What I'm saying is that while Cabinet would take the lead in terms of ensuring that those goals and the priorities of the mandate are met, we shouldn't lose sight that on this side, the Regular Members, that working relationship has to be strong and it has to be maintained. In the next four years, I look with forward to ensuring that happens.