Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is not often that I agree with the former Member for Kitikmeot. However when he stated during the last Assembly that in regard to the distribution of government money and programs, "it would be better if the Kitikmeot became part of the Keewatin Region, or better yet, was considered a suburb of Iqaluit," I think he hit the nail directly on the head. Thank you.

I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about my concerns regarding the decentralization initiatives announced Tuesday by the Government Leader. I have tried, during my short time in this House, to give this cabinet the benefit of the doubt in the planning for the restructuring of northern government. I understand that the job they have is very difficult, and tough decisions are required. Mr. Speaker, I can bide my time no longer.

During the last Assembly, several ordinary Members spoke passionately about the seemingly unequal distribution of money for capital projects and other programs throughout the NWT and, in particular, the Kitikmeot Region. Sadly, this cabinet seems to be continuing this trend. The recent decentralization of government programs ignored the two most economically disadvantaged regions of the NWT; the North Slave and the Kitikmeot. Clearly it is these regions that require the most benefits derived from the decentralization of government programs.

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to sound opposed to any mining venture in my region; I simply say that the people of the Kitikmeot want to build a strong and self-sustaining economy that can survive downturns in the economy. We cannot rely solely on the discovery of minerals that we may have or that may or may not be developed in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 1, too, am of the same opinion as my colleague for North Slave. For many years we have sort of been poor cousins to the government. The Kitikmeot needs a lot of work at ground level to get things going, as does the Keewatin. We cannot rely solely on the mining industry as the Minister stated, for this whole reason that the mining industry and the growth of a

community depends on the market value of your lead, nickel, and gold. That is dictated by the world market and how good the price is. From what I understand, gold is on its way down. What we really need is infrastructure in our community. We will be going into a new territory, and we need new things to develop with, like other regions in the Territories.

Kitikmeot Region Neglected

I am beginning to wonder if this Legislative Assembly looks beyond their own constituency needs and their interests. My region exists; we are part of the NWT; we will always be; because we are right in the dead smack centre of the Territories. I feel Rankin and Fort Simpson are not nevernever land; that should be us fellows. They are well established. Mr. Todd has all his infrastructure there, yet he is getting more PYs and we are getting nothing.

You have to look at decentralization on a territorial level and not on the region that you want to promote and develop and leave the two regions, which are already neglected, behind. We need this government infrastructure. We need many things that I wish we could get within my four years in this House or even after seven years. It will be pretty difficult to do. I am only one in 24; I am only a rookie. I sit back and listen to all the luxuries these guys are getting, and we are getting only sparerib extras with no meat on them.

I think the government has to seriously consider going back to the drawing board and see what they can come up with for the region that I represent. Because it is disheartening to go out of here during the day knowing that you are not getting anything and the decision has already been made without even consulting the hamlet councils and myself. Who made these decisions to move these person years to the region. In principle I agree with decentralization, but I have to say it is not being done on an equal basis.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister responsible for Finance. Since the

Kitikmeot Region is seen as a poor cousin to other regions of the government, could the Minister tell me, why must we go the route of mines and not government decentralization and to an economy based on our renewable resources? Surely your former deputy minister and your acting deputy minister liked our fishing so much. We have lots to offer. And yet, where do we stand with this present government? Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What my colleague, Mr. Pudluk, from the High Arctic has expressed, my interpretation is different. The people in the Kitikmeot, which is the constituency I represent and includes Coppermine, Bathurst Inlet and Bay Chimo, have a slight difference in the way we do our day-to-day living, including our language, which is already different. We use Roman orthography. We write in ABCs. We value this, but when I returned from Arctic College in Fort Smith and sat down as a hamlet councillor, I was appalled to see Kugluktuk spelled wrong. Instead of the "k"s which we commonly use, we are seeing "q"s. This disturbs our elders. It is altogether a different pronunciation. Even though I do not speak the language, people in my region are very much concerned about why the government or someone has decided to make us try to conform to a different way of writing.

The Copper Inuit people are different, yet we are all Inuit people. These are the things that people or new organizations should not bother to try to disturb. I have complaints that parents are pulling their children out of Inuvialuktun language classes because the way of saying words long ago is changing. This disturbs the parents. It is one issue that is very important to the people that I represent. No one in their right mind should try to change the way we write in our own native language.

Another matter my colleague from the High Arctic expressed was about the boundary. The boundary in the Kitikmeot Region is beside Sahtu, North Slave, Nunakput and Natilikmiot. We have people born in the Sahtu region and the Great Slave Lake many, many years ago. Even my mother-in-law was born over there in Great Slave Lake. That is how nomadic we were. A lot of people were born south of Contwoyto Lake. A lot of people were born in other places a way inland. They still want the right to hunt, trap and fish in .the area where they were born. We do not want to see a mine field to say you are entering a new territory. We want to have the inherent right to go wherever we wish and please but to live within our own region.

Cost To Kitikmeot Of Joining Nunavut

Historically, in the Kitikmeot Region as far as Cambridge Bay and Coppermine, Bathurst and Bay Chimo, we have always relied on Yellowknife and Hay River for essential services including barge systems, air transportation, health and social services, et cetera. All these things are so precious to what we want to hang on to. I am wondering if this new government can still guarantee our right to hang on to our own culture, our own written language and to be able to speak our own language in our own way, and our privilege to come to high school or the hospital in Yellowknife. Could we, at some point in time, have our own hospital and high school in the Kitikmeot Region, and not rely on other regions to provide services to us? We might be a small region, but geographically we are pretty huge, and we are very rich in mineral wealth.

But I think it is more than that that the plebiscite should be looking at; it is how unique we will be if we are to join Nunavut. We would like to be part of it, but at what cost? At what cost to the federal government? Can the new government provide these services? And I do not mean lip service; I mean concrete guaranteed services that we would not be hindered by dilution of services.

I had an opportunity to talk to some of the people I represent in Coppermine before we reconvened, and I was not too amazed that some of the elders who I spoke to did not agree to going with Nunavut. They told me, "How can Nunavut provide the services that we already have provided by the government? How can they better our services?' I never questioned them; I just sat there and had more tea and let them do all the talking.

When I talked to hunters and trappers that use the region that I represent that is supposed to be divided, they said that many of the Coppermine people still go close to Great Bear Lake to hunt for wolverines, wolves or whatever, or just go to places where their forefathers have gone. They do not want to lose that opportunity to continue going there.

In my opinion, before this division thing or plebiscite thing came up, we were always in the Central Arctic, and now all of a sudden we are going to be moved into a new direction which is the Eastern Arctic. History indicates that we have always been part of the Western Arctic, and the government gave us disk numbers that we still use. I know my disk number is W3668, because I am from the West. People in Coppermine and Cambridge are "W" too, so that is an indication that the government gave them a number saying they are from the Western Arctic. But now that we have something that we are going to have to live by, I really do not know what kind of direction our younger people want to take on this matter.

We have to look at our resources. What can we offer them? What can division offer our young people? What can division offer our elderly people? What kind of security can we be guaranteed, that we already have, that we may lose? Land claims, in my opinion, is not a solution. Land claims money can take you only so far. Once your investments are bad, what are you left with?

I may sound as though I am against division, but I have to speak for the people I represent. I am Inuvialuit. I might not speak my language, but, son of a gun, it is hard being brought up in a convent and losing what you were born with. But what costs will people pay in the Kitikmeot? Will we really be happy? Will we have decent representation? Will we have equal representation as the people who are living in the Baffin? We would like to see these written down so we have no more fear or uncertainties. The Territories is already unique enough.

We look at this side of the House. There are whole bunch of us who were born and raised in the Territories, and went to residential schools. Some of them are traditional people. They still uphold their values, but the world is changing. The Ministers across there are in the same boat. But why are we spoiling something we already try to make better'? We want to create something that some people might not like.

Money can take people only so far, but it is the resources we have, if we do not have renewable resources, things that you can grow and reproduce -- why are we going after the gold and silver'? That is non-renewable. I understand where the Baffin people are coming from. They have renewable resources, because they are so close to the ocean. They have shrimp. I have tasted their beautiful shrimp. But what we people in the Kitikmeot have, gold and silver, is not renewable. These are the things we have to tell our people about.

So I do not know if I can be a super salesman, but I will sure try. I do not work for Simpson Sears or Eatons. We all go to the Hudson's Bay store -- I do not call it Northern, I just call it The Bay. But I guess we will find out fairly shortly, Mr. Chairman.

--- Laughter

Thank you Mr. Speaker, after 20 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I have a question to the Minister of Personnel regarding a constituent whom I represent. Since February 13, 1985 to March 4, 1992, this person has applied for over 50 government positions. He is an aboriginal person with a family, yet on every occasion he has been refused employment. He graduated in 1974 from Sir John Franklin High School and has attended NAIT in Edmonton. Can the Minister tell me what advice can I give this aboriginal person who has failed on over 55 jobs in applying for employment with this government? What am I going to tell him, please?

--- Applause

On March 9th Mr. Todd asked a question in regard to regional advisory boards under the Credit Corporation Act. When can he expect an answer?