Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a note to this motion here; unfortunately, I will not be able to support this motion. I know there has been some talk here of consensus government, and you know, this being my second term, I have seen how well consensus government can work in the 17th Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, mainly because we made use of fireside chats with the Premier whenever we had issues with any Minister, we sat them down and we discussed those issues. If they weren't willing to make changes, we Regular Members had the ability to change out that Minister. We were willing to, but because we were all working together, we made those changes. Sometimes what happened was a Cabinet shuffle and maybe that is what is in order.
Mr. Sebert is responsible for four portfolios, not to mention the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedure. Mr. Sebert is the Minister of Justice and Lands, which is very new to us. He took on a lot of responsibility from the federal government here. You know, it is a learning curve for that department, as well. We have to consider that. Sure, there are changes that could be made, but I think what we need to do is sit down, have a fireside chat once this process is over, and see what we could do to make the changes that are needed for residents of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly that consensus government is what we need here in the Northwest Territories and I hope that lasts a long time in this territory because it is very challenging living in small communities and any time I have ever had issues in my constituency that had to do with either Justice, Lands, or Power Corporation, Mr. Sebert acted on it within a short time, whether it was a week or a couple of days even. That is what I have to use for this motion here. I know there are a number of other concerns that Members have with Mr. Sebert, but a lot of that is out of his hands.
You know, to be accountable, that process, a good example is the A New Day Program. It had to go out to a tender process. Unfortunately, we have only one group that is interested in taking on this program. That has nothing to do with Mr. Sebert. I know he is responsible for that portfolio, but like I said, we are here to make changes and I think what we need to do once this process is done, whatever the outcome is, that we need to work together for the remaining two years of our term and ensure that residents have what they need here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.