Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, providing a quality of life to the residents of the NWT so they can become independent, self-reliant individuals has to be a priority of the 16th Legislative Assembly. Mr.

Speaker, on November 15th , I had an opportunity to meet

in Inuvik with some families of people that are confined to wheelchairs, quadriplegics. As I sat there listening to their concerns and the frustration that they had with some of the programs, lack of services and lack of support, I felt their frustration, Mr. Speaker. I truly felt their frustration and when constituents have that and they come to you, it is something that you have to bring forward.

Coming out of that meeting, I planned on speaking to a certain individual in particular and the challenges that she faced being confined to a wheelchair for the last four years. I had documentation that I was going to bring forward to present on her behalf. But, sadly, Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, this individual passed away. I feel, Mr. Speaker, like I owe her and her family…I have to bring their concerns forward because we have other quadriplegics living in Inuvik. I feel like I will let them down if I don’t bring their concerns forward.

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have to listen to the concerns of the people. The only thing that I know of that is written in stone is the 10 commandments, Mr. Speaker. Everything else can be changed. If it is programs that have to be changed, if wording has to be changed, then I think we should be flexible enough to change them. If the delivery of the programs is the problem, then that might be something we may have to look into, Mr. Speaker, to make sure that the delivery of the programs is benefiting those across the Northwest Territories, not just in Inuvik.

We have made a commitment, and I will make it my personal commitment to these families that I will continue within the next four years to bring their issues forward and have their issues heard. Cabinet, you have made that commitment to hear these issues and between you folks and us on this side, we should be able to address these issues, because the bottom line is the well-being of the residents of the Northwest Territories. It has to be our top priority and nothing else. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank all my colleagues for their comments and their belief in the motion that we just put forward. It was mentioned a couple of times, you know, the sad truth is it doesn’t matter how much good work an Assembly does -- and the 15th Assembly I believe did some good work -- but some Assemblies are remembered for the wrong reasons. The report I seen on past Assemblies, they seem to focus on all the negative stuff. I believe with this group that we have here, and my colleague from the Mackenzie Delta made another interesting comment saying that, you know, I’m trusting in all of you because anything that any one of us do in here, as David said, we all kind of get painted with the same brush. I will watch my conduct because I don’t want anybody painting you all with the same brush because of my conduct, especially if it’s negative conduct. I expect the same from everybody.

So I thank all the Members here and I look forward to the next four years. I think we have a good group. I think there’s going to be some good work done. I want the 16th Assembly to be remembered for the good work it did and nothing else. Mr. Speaker, I would also ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to commend the movers of this motion. As a new Member of the Legislative Assembly, the Members' Conduct Guidelines that have been put forward lays out all the attributes that I would aspire to in serving in this Legislative Assembly. So I will be supporting the motion. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will be very brief because the motion that I read basically says it all. There were a couple of points I did want to make. I brought this motion forward willingly because I truly believe that, as elected representatives, we have to follow the guidelines. This is just putting it on paper and putting the motion together, but we have to follow it because we should believe in it. We have to be able to come to work every morning, treat our colleagues with

respect, treat them with integrity and some may wonder about that sometimes with some of the stuff that goes on in this Assembly, but we need to be able to go home in the evening, look ourselves in the mirror and have no problem with that reflection looking back at us because we’ve done what we set out to do. I believe in this motion. I try to abide by it. It’s not just the motion that I try to abide by it, it’s the honestly and the integrity. I think that’s something we need to bring to this Assembly. I think it’s something, in my couple of weeks here getting to know everybody, I think everybody here will agree to the same thing. We have to go about our work with integrity. We have to be honest. We’ve had issues in the past, but that’s where they should be left. They should be left in the past and we should go forward from here.

This is a motion that I truly believe in. It’s a motion that I willingly brought forward and I wanted to be the mover of this motion. I believe in all the principles that it says in this motion. It’s a very broad motion. It shouldn’t be just a play on words. We shouldn’t just throw these words around loosely; accountability, integrity, honesty. These are words that we should believe in and we should bring them to this institution. I believe in this institution. We should bring them here and this is something we have to believe in, otherwise, if you don’t believe in all these principles, we may as well just stay home because we won’t be serving anybody any good if we come down here and we have the wrong attitude and we don’t believe in the principles of integrity and honour.

So it’s an honour, Mr. Speaker, for me to bring this motion forward because it’s something that I truly believe in and it’s just not a play on words for myself. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

WHEREAS the Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly

are mindful that it is an honour and a privilege to serve the people of the Northwest Territories as legislators;

AND WHEREAS the trust and confidence the people have placed in conferring this office upon us demands the highest standard of conduct, integrity and honour;

AND WHEREAS Members are resolved to do our utmost to hear the voices of all our people; preserve our traditions and bridge them with new ways to build our future; provide legislation, policies and services for the good of the people as individuals, families and communities; promote the equality of all our people; distribute resources fairly and justly; and respect and honour our land and all its inhabitants;

AND WHEREAS Members recognize that we owe to this Legislature respect as well as dedication to ensuring the integrity of our government and to earning the confidence of the people;

AND WHEREAS Members recognize that we owe to our constituents our best efforts at effective representation as well as accountability, honesty, fairness and courtesy;

AND WHEREAS Members recognize that we owe to the public a responsibility to work for the well-being of all residents of the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS Members recognize that we owe to our colleagues fairness and respect for differences, and the duty to work together with goodwill for the common good;

AND WHEREAS Members are resolved not to act, nor condone others to act, in ways that exploit, slander or discriminate against others;

AND WHEREAS Members acknowledge a vision and a responsibility to improve the lives of our people and to act in creative ways to overcome the hardships which destroy life and hope and the human frailties which fall upon us;

AND WHEREAS Members are resolved not to act, nor condone others to act, in ways which are dishonest or which exploit positions of privilege for personal gain;

AND WHEREAS paragraph 75 (a) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides that each Member shall perform his or her duties of office and arrange his or her private affairs in such a manner as to maintain public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of the Member;

AND WHEREAS past Assemblies have seen fit to adopt principles to guide Members’ conduct;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that this Legislative Assembly formally adopts the “Members’ Conduct Guidelines” as appended and which forms part of this resolution.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, October 22, 2007, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that this Legislative Assembly formally adopts the "Members’ Conduct Guidelines," as appended and which forms part of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Premier if he and his new Cabinet would consider cancelling the whole Deh Cho Bridge project, diverting the money to starting a road down the Mackenzie Valley that would benefit more people down the valley and Yellowknife? Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 16th Assembly, we’re going into, I believe, the most

important four years in the history of the NWT, and all 19 of us in here play a big part in how the next four years shape up. We, as other colleagues have mentioned, have heard issues from a lot of constituents during the campaign, and we want to act on these issues. Now that we’re starting to get some order in the Assembly here, Cabinet’s been selected and -- they haven’t been

assigned portfolios yet but they have been selected -- you’re going to have to start listening to what people are telling you. We, on this side of the House, are going to tell you what people told us and want us to relay onto the government because you have an opportunity as the new Cabinet to make sure that the next four years run smoothly and things get done. If there’s deadwood within the system, get rid of it, because we have a fresh Cabinet now and it should be a fresh government, a fresh start, and start doing what people want us to do. I want Cabinet to go in there and say that I will be the dog that wags the tail; I’m not going to have the tail wag the dog. I think that would be a good attitude. You are the leaders of the department; you give them the direction based on what you hear from us and we give you that direction based on what we hear from the people.

We have to act on it, Mr. Speaker. We are in a very important four years. We have some projects coming up; we have decisions that have to be made; and we have to act on it. We can’t just go through the motions for another four years. We have to be, as one Member said the other day in his campaign speech for Cabinet, we have to be proactive to the needs of the people in the Northwest Territories and not react after the fact, which I think has been happening too much lately.

One thing I did forget to mention yesterday when I was doing my opening statement, I have to commend the people of the Northwest Territories that went out and voted, because they’ve exercised their democratic privilege and it is a privilege to be able to go out and vote. A lot of people don’t have that and sometimes we take it for granted. So I would like this new government, all 19 of us, to listen to what people are telling us, act on it and act in their bests interests…