Thank you, Mr. Chair. I had faith in consensus government. When we talk about consensus government, it is exchanging ideas, listening to people, and hashing it out until you come up with a consensus to it. Not, “well, here it is, we'll bring it to the floor and we'll hammer it out here.” To me, consensus government is working together so we're here and now. To the credit of Cabinet, I appreciate the work you guys did to this. You guys did a lot of work and took a lot of time into it. I don't think you've heard everybody's comments or concerns, because we wouldn't be here if you did. I think we would have been able to pass the mandate as is, but right now I can't, as my colleague Mr. O'Reilly said, I can't officially agree to it. There is a lot of things in here that were part of the mandate from my election, and I appreciate that in there, but there's other things that weren't. I struggle with this whole process, and maybe just because I'm new. I was inside the government system and was able to work with it. I find that being outside the government system and being at the top of the heap or the political chair, we don't have the ways to deal with things. We get a wall blocked up, it's a bureaucratic answer, or it comes across that way. When I looked at this mandate, there were things put in there that should not have been in here. Like, the fiscal responsibility part of it. It's a mandate paper. This is what we're talking about. This is what we want to do: doom and gloom. You know, I understand we're in a fiscal situation, but when we keep on hearing doom and gloom, why would anybody want to be living in the Northwest Territories? I'm a proud Northerner. I was born and raised here. I believe in the people of the Northwest Territories and I believe in the public service. However, if we're going to put up barriers and we're not going to listen to the Regular Members, it's going to be a long four years for myself. So in saying that, I hope we're able to move forward, be productive, and we can actually weather the storm and fulfill this mandate with the proposed changes that we are trying to get across.
Shane Thompson on Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
In the Legislative Assembly on February 22nd, 2016. See this statement in context.
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
Consideration in Committee of the Whole of Bills and Other Matters
February 21st, 2016
See context to find out what was said next.