Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I regret we're here today. In the whole beginning of the process I went and talked to each Minister and explained where I was going and how I was going there, and I'm going to vote the same way I voted with my X on there. My concern through this whole process is I believe in consensus government. I believe we need to be working together as a collective, and, unfortunately, we're here today and I don't see consensus working as well as we should be.
I have been very fortunate to have been raised up in the Northwest Territories and I've watched consensus government work and I firmly believe in it, and that's why I'm here, because I believe in consensus government, but unfortunately we are here today. I must apologize to our honourable Member from Thebacha. Unfortunately, we're bringing it up here again in a public hearing. I was asked by the public what I was doing and how I was going to do it and I said I would speak here as I spoke to the individual Ministers there.
My concerns, I have four; one was the A New Day Program. It had an impact on people who are less fortunate; people who are trying to get better lives. All of a sudden the A New Day Program, which was working; if you talk to the people who were part of the process, the people who were offering the program, maybe it wasn't the way the government wanted to do it, but it was working. When we had the A New Day Program we talked about it, I asked for a six month to a year extension of the contract. No, we're going to do three months. Well, three months doesn't get you do anything; all it does is get you to finish off that term. So that was a concern. I sit there and I talk to the people, my constituents from the residence I live in, and they talk about the importance of healing. We're not seeing the healing, and that hurts me deeply. If we're not healing people, we're not doing the job right. I was really concerned with the process. We went from a nine-month to a five-year deal, which wasn't offered to other people, and if you're not offering it to other people you're not really doing what we're supposed to be doing here. Doing what's right for the people. I'm not saying John Howard is the wrong people to do it, I'm just saying the process was flawed.
I talked about equity leases for two years. It seemed that, if you knew some people, somewhere down the line you got better treatment than others. There were 240 equity leases out there. These are people, residents of the Northwest Territories, and we were not able to do anything for two years. It was brought to me by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in my riding and other ridings: what are you doing? Well, we can bring our concerns and concerns, but at no point in time was there leadership there.
Probably the hardest one, though, is leases. Ten per cent is a fair market value, or is fair. Well, I don't know what world people live in, but 10 per cent? If you've got $40,000 that's $4,000 you're paying. That's more than people's taxes in Yellowknife, in taxes out there. We worry about our elders or the less fortunate people out there. Where was the negotiation? Where was the looking at it? If you go 3 per cent, at least that's feasible and affordable, but the less fortunate people can't afford that, and if you can't afford that how can you access other programs? So if you can't get your lease in order you can't get housing programs because they're linked together. So if you're not linked together and you're not able to do this, you're hindering the less fortunate.
I represent six small communities. Leases are one of the biggest issues. I have issues with people trying to develop agriculture so they can make it more affordable to live in the North, but it becomes a huge hindrance and people aren't looking at that. Well, it's cheaper to build a tank farm than it was to build an agricultural greenhouse in my riding. I've had people bring this to me.
My last one, again, came down to the Power Corporation, removing the board. How were we informed? The Minister came in and told us. There was no consultation part of it. So we, as government, have to bear that. Today, where are we? Still higher cost of living. We have Members here who want to see the capital plan and the business; we want the public out there to see what's going on. No, they can't do that because it has to go to another agency.
At the end, I must say that I regret that I have to stand up here and speak out here about this, but I'm a very principled person. I say what I'm going to do; I'm going to do what I'm going to do. I put my X on there, and we had a non-confidence here. Some people put their Xs, more than nine, so it's 10, that's a majority. I know where I put my X and the Ministers knew where I put my X in regards to how I voted during the Mid-Term Review. At the end, I did have a conversation with the Minister. At the end of the day, whatever comes out of it, I still want to work with the Minister. Minister Sebert is a great person, but sometimes in leadership positions you've got to make hard decisions. You need to consult and, unfortunately, I did not feel that these issues were being dealt with, so again, I will be supporting this. Does it hurt me? Yes, because honestly 19 of us worked hard to get where we are today and we're doing it for the people of the Northwest Territories, and that's why I'm voting to support this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.