Too often in our history, it seems as though women of Metis, Dene and Inuit descent have been viewed as not quite equal and too often this conviction has been very present in the political atmosphere. It seems through the years though, we have two strikes against us when we first come to participate in the political affairs of this country: first, because we are aboriginal; and second, because we are women.

Mr. Speaker, I think that all Members can take pride in the fact that at one point during the 12th Assembly, our federal Member of Parliament, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Premier, a Cabinet Minister and even a Deputy Clerk were all aboriginal women. I think that is significant progress for the north. Unfortunately, that only lasted for a short time, but it set a precedent for the future. It sends out a positive message to young aboriginal women in the Northwest Territories. Like my daughters and your daughters, Mr. Speaker, they certainly don't have to take a back seat to anyone.

I can say that I did enjoy my short year of tenure as Speaker. I did enjoy the time frame that I spent. At the time, I felt I was able to attain a successful protocol with the Premier to ensure the interest of Thebacha constituents could be met. I was pleased that the Premier came to Fort Smith back in December of 1993, last June of 1994 and again in December of 1994. Each time the Premier comes to Fort Smith, I know the residents of Fort Smith certainly enjoy having her visit us and they certainly are interested in hearing what she has to say.

Mr. Speaker, I want to state that at no time have I ever taken proceedings of the House or discuss matters pertaining to House business through other Members with respect to the protocol I established with the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, we know back in 1993, the new Legislative Assembly was officially opened. We certainly had changes. It was quite a change for the staff. It was quite a significant change for Mr. Hamilton and I think he served Members well through the transition period. I know that when we had the Prime Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Jean Chretien, address this House and be here with us on opening day, it gave particular significance to the north. It indicated to Canadians that we were not only proud of our home, but we were able to recognize the importance to southern Canadians of having the Prime Minister come in and open our home.

and talk to the Royal couple. I believe that we should all acknowledge the hard work and thoughtful planning that was carried out by Russ Look, David Hamilton and the numerous volunteers who worked with them in Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit for making it such a success.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I found my time in the chair to be both challenging and rewarding. I know that you will already understand this yourself, Mr. Speaker, and I wish you the very best as you serve all Members in your role as Speaker. I know that you will always do everything that you can to preserve and protect the integrity of the Speaker's chair.

However, when all things are said and done, this concern for the integrity of the House was the same concern that led to my decision to step down from the chair earlier this year. Honourable Members know that a commitment to build a tanker base previously made to the people of Fort Smith by the Premier is still unfulfilled. They will know as well that I have legitimate concerns about the manner in which the air tanker base fire suppression contract had been tendered by the Minister of Public Works and Services. I will have more to say on both of those issues later in my reply.

For the time being, Mr. Speaker, I want to note that when these issues began to develop, I became increasingly aware that it would not be possible for me to remain silent. I recognized that the stakes were too high for my constituents, but in realizing that I also accepted the fact that because of the high esteem which I hold in the integrity of the Speaker's chair, it would be inappropriate for me to attempt to retain that office, if I were to address Cabinet's failures to treat my constituency appropriately.

That was not an easy decision and it was one that I contemplated carefully. In fact, there were several occasions when I mentioned my concern to the Premier and told her that I would always need to priorize the interest of my constituency over my own continuation as Speaker. I urged her at the time, Mr. Speaker, to bring the matter of the air tanker base to a constructive conclusion, but she failed to respond.

I told her that if the uncertainty over this matter were to continue, I would have to return to my place on the floor of this House, but there was not even a hint of progress at the time. I believe that some of Cabinet felt they had gotten me safely out of the way and that my interest in serving this House as Speaker would override my commitment to my constituency. Mr. Speaker, they were wrong.

In the end, I realized that I really had only one choice. The people of Thebacha had elected me to represent their interests and to speak up on their behalf under circumstances when they were being treated unfairly by government. I realized that with the information I had on hand, I would also have to allege conflict of interest on the part of a territorial Cabinet Minister. At the same time, I realized that it would be critical to uphold the impartiality of the chair. To do that, I knew that I would have to vacate the Speaker's chair and that, in the end, was the path I chose to follow.

Mr. Speaker, once I made that decision, I can honestly state not one moment of my time has been to regret that particular decision. I have never regretted resigning as Speaker, although at times it has been hard to hear some of the comments that Cabinet Ministers and others have made. I know one Cabinet Minister who, at times during Christmas while handing out oranges at a constituency gathering had made comments such as we paid her big bucks to keep her quiet; although, the actual words were much harsher and I recognize the parliamentary language we have adopted in this House. There were other comments made and they quickly got back to me.

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to indicate which Cabinet Minister made these remarks because I consider them undignified and regrettable. It should be left as a matter between the Member and the Member's conscience.

I will, however, acknowledge that that sort of reaction did cause some concerns, both at a personal level, because it does hurt to hear a colleague make remarks like that, and as a northern leader. Have we really come to the point where this sort of conduct has become part of the territorial leadership style? I certainly hope not, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the regrets that I did have while sitting as Speaker was that I was not able to participate when Ordinary Members' Caucus reviewed the Cabinet. I watched with interest as honourable Members advised the Cabinet about their respective successes and failures and gave them each a letter grade. Mr. Speaker, you know I missed out on that process, but I strongly felt that it is never too late to follow up on a good idea.

So this afternoon I would like to offer my own assessment of Cabinet Members and to provide my own grading of their performance. Mr. Speaker, I will begin with my assessment of our Premier, the Honourable Nellie Cournoyea. I should tell Members that I once had an enormous amount of respect for the Premier. Unfortunately, some of those feelings have eroded over the past year. I am very concerned that many of the details that are not coming out about the CL-215 base are not represented in a manner that is entirely consistent with the facts. My constituency is eager to know the truth about whether it will receive the long-awaited tanker base and the reasons for the delay. And I think it's only fair that the government has the courtesy to tell them.

As Premier, Ms. Cournoyea made statements way back on June 16, 1992, which she titled "New Directions." At that time, she announced a number of key decentralization initiatives. Mr. Speaker, the Premier made the following promises:

- transportation programs would be moved to Fort Simpson, Norman Wells and Baker Lake to take advantage of existing infrastructure and support services;

- Arctic College headquarters would be moved to Iqaluit and Fort Smith;

- in recognition of distinct supply routes for products delivered by POL, it's headquarters operations were to be placed in Rankin Inlet and Fort Simpson;

- given the availability of the necessary communication-processing facilities and infrastructure, the health insurance section which primarily processes health billings would be located to Inuvik and Rankin Inlet, which it has been over the last year -- I can say that Inuvik and Rankin Inlet really did well when it comes to decentralization, particularly Rankin Inlet;

- the Science Institute was to be moved to its laboratory and research facilities in Inuvik and Igloolik;

- recognizing the predominance of a transport and utility company in Hay River, the Highway Transport Board and the Public Utilities Board would be moved there, which has happened; and,

- in order to capture economic benefits of government spending, Cabinet indicated it would support the location of an aircraft maintenance facility in Fort Smith for its fleet of water bombers that would develop a training component, in conjunction with Arctic College.

She promised that all these decentralization initiatives would be completed by April, 1994. It's now June, 1995 and Fort Smith still just has a sign there saying, "This is going to be the home of the aircraft maintenance facility."

Mr. Speaker, each of these commitments, each of the promises she has made, has been fulfilled; except for the commitment for the Fort Smith tanker base. Rankin Inlet has its POL operation and health billings office, Hay River has its Public Utilities Board, the Science Institute is long gone from Yellowknife but still, over three years after the Premier made her original announcement about the heavy aircraft maintenance facility and over a year after the initiative was supposed to have been completed, there is only confusion and uncertainty about the development of the air tanker base in Fort Smith. It has left my constituents wondering why.

And it has left them questioning the credibility of the Premier; when she gives her word on something, Mr. Speaker, can we expect her to keep it? I think this is a question of leadership, Mr. Speaker. When the Premier announces that Cabinet will support a particular initiative, I think most people understand that she means all Cabinet Ministers. Why has she allowed one department to throw an important component of her "New Directions" initiative into doubt? Frankly, I think it has been clear from the start that this Premier has difficulty in providing positive leadership for her Ministers.

The interdepartmental coordination that we will need to carry us through the difficult upcoming fiscal crisis has still not been achieved. There have been a lot of jobs taken on but too many of them are still only half done. Part of this may be due to the fact that the Premier is a woman who simply takes on too much. It seems like she doesn't like to delegate and she gets too focused on specific matters. This has resulted in her often appearing very tired and hurried, compared to all other provincial premiers and aboriginal leaders. She certainly seems energetic all right, but not vibrant. Perhaps this is part of the reason that we have sometimes been kicked around at the national level.

I'm concerned about the way that she has led her Ministers in voting as a block, most recently against last Friday's motion on whether to allow western aboriginal leaders to appear before committee of the whole. I'm also concerned about the stand she took with respect to the private Member's bill on recall that my honourable colleague for Yellowknife Centre brought forward earlier this session. The Premier should know that, regardless of her personal views, the people of the Northwest Territories should have been given an opportunity to discuss the principle of recall in public hearings, rather than having the rug pulled out from under them at second reading.

I'm also concerned about the manner in which the Premier has dealt with the matter of her former Minister, the honourable Member for Baffin Central. I believe that Ms. Mike was not treated fairly by the Premier and her senior Cabinet officials. No one likes to see a colleague railroaded into resignation, and in looking at that situation, I believe that is what happened. I know that at least some northern women have been asking themselves, would Ms. Mike have been forced to resign if she had been a male? Would she have been forced to resign if she had been non-native? I guess we'll never know those answers, Mr. Speaker, but I am troubled that the Premier's handling of this matter has left the door open for those kinds of questions.

However, on a more positive note, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that decisions about the use of power surpluses from the Pine Point shutdown are now going to be looked at. As you know, I have always said there are opportunities to maximize power delivery at lower rates for the people of Fort Smith and I'm glad to see the Premier, in her capacity as Minister responsible for the NWT Power Corporation, finally starting to examine this question. But, Mr. Speaker, I wonder since Pine Point shut down a few years ago now, what took her so long in the first place?

I would like to comment favourably on what I perceive to be something of a turnaround in the Department of Health and Social Services. You'll remember, Mr. Speaker, that at some points during this Assembly there have been times when the Department of Health came in for some serious criticism. I think the Auditor General of Canada, in fact, pointed out a number of major shortcomings in the department's operation and there were frequent criticisms of its relations with regional health and hospital boards. I know I became very frustrated with the manner in which it dealt with a respected doctor who worked in Fort Smith for years. In fact, that doctor still lives in Fort Smith and Fort Smith still has a rash of doctors coming in and out, trying to address my constituency's health problems. But they go away just as quick as they come in. That's unfortunate, because there's no stability in our health care system as a result of that.

Over the past year, I believe many of the problems have shown signs of significant improvement. I believe that the amalgamation of the departments of Health and Social Services have been fairly successful and there will be some real benefits for the people of the Northwest Territories as a result. I certainly give the Premier, in her capacity as the Minister of Health and Social Services, a lot of credit for this particular progress. But, I also think she should be very grateful to several hard-working officials. Without them, these gains could not have been accomplished.

I would especially like to acknowledge her deputy minister, Ken Lovely, whose appointment brought some stability and a new corporate approach to the operation of the department. I also think the Minister should be grateful to Penny Ballantyne, who assumed the challenge of the assistant deputy minister of Social Services. As someone raised in the north and as someone I went to school with, I believe that Mrs. Ballantyne is particularly sensitive to the social needs of northerners. This is reflected in the thoughtful priorities that have been set for this department since she has joined the directorate.

Mr. Speaker, as the former Minister of Social Services, I know that there are many other hard-working officials who are deserving of recognition, but today I would like to make mention of one of them: John Campbell of Yellowknife, who I think stands out in the contributions he has been making to people in the north to assist in addressing the alcoholism problem we have. Many honourable Members are aware that Mr. Campbell has worked for many years to coordinate alcohol and drug treatment programs. Frequently, he's a person to whom our constituents turn for assistance, with treatment referrals or to solve problems in the funding of addiction agencies. I believe he's a public servant who has a lot of experience and a great deal of knowledge in the field of addiction around this country. But he approaches his job in such a down-to-earth, open-minded way that people just want to talk to him, no matter how much pressure they might be under, and I think that's perhaps what makes him such an effective and valuable public servant. But I hear that Mr. Campbell may be coming close to his retirement, and I know that all Members will wish him the very best when he decides to retire.

So, Mr. Speaker, with the assistance of the officials I mentioned and many others, I believe that the honourable Member for Nunakput has performed well as Minister of Health and Social Services, certainly one of the toughest portfolios in the Cabinet.

But in my books, even that performance isn't enough to outweigh her lacklustre record in dealing with global issues, in failing to provide strong leadership to the Cabinet and in failing to live up to her commitment about the Fort Smith tanker base. So, for that reason, I feel that Ms. Cournoyea should receive an A-minus for her efforts, not exactly the sort of northern leadership that I believe we were hoping for at the outset of this term.

Before moving on, however, I want to note that, even despite the concerns existing about her failure to follow through with her commitment, many people in Fort Smith continue to have high hopes for the Premier, and I really believe that if she can fulfil the earlier promise about the tanker base and if she can quit letting her Ministers place her in embarrassing situations, I am certain that the people of Fort Smith would see her mark improve to an A-plus...

---Applause

...and might even feel comfortable about having her express an interest in returning as Premier after the fall election.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been looking forward to the opportunity to make my reply to the Commissioner's address for some time, and I have indicated to the Members that it is going to be a fairly lengthy one, so feel free, when you think we need a break, to give us a break.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, this, as some other Members have pointed out, is one time in this House when we can comment on broader issues that are important to the people of our constituency and also to all residents of the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, I want to comment on a number of those broader issues as well as certain matters that will be of particular concern to the people of Fort Smith. I also want to reflect on the last four years to take a look at what we, as an Assembly, and what I, as a Member, wanted to achieve and what we, as an Assembly, were able to achieve. Now that we are close to concluding what is likely to be the last session of the 12th Legislative Assembly, it's a good time to reflect on exactly what we have accomplished and to identify priorities that still need to be met.

I will also be commenting about my decision to leave the Speaker's chair, a decision that I felt personally was quite difficult, at times, for me to make, and about the government's action that prompted this decision on my part. As well, Mr. Speaker, I want to share my assessment of the Cabinet and its performance and to briefly review the successes and failures of several government departments. And, before closing, I want to do what my honourable colleague from Yellowknife North has done on a couple of occasions and highlight a few transition issues that will be important for the new Legislative Assembly to address following the fall election.

Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of the current term of this Assembly, it is a good time to think back over our past four years as Members of this House, and no one can deny that those four years have certainly been eventful ones. I can recall sometimes the enthusiasm that surrounded our first few months as Members were sworn in. The Executive Council, the Cabinet, was selected for the first time with the leadership committee process that took our deliberations out of the back rooms of the Caucus from the last Assembly that I was first elected to, and into the full view of the public. Then committees were formed and began doing their important work. I don't know if there has ever been more work or substantial work carried out in the Northwest Territories Legislature. During the first couple of years alone, there were major initiatives undertaken by standing committees to review the Workers' Compensation Board, to review a major report with regard to the Department of Health and to revise and update the rules of the Legislative Assembly. In addition, we also had the report of the Special Committee on Health and Social Services.

So when people look back at the 12th Assembly, Mr. Speaker, not only will they remember this Assembly as building the new building, but they will also recall that this was the term when bills were first reviewed in the standing committee, reviewed in the public, mainly by the Standing Committee on Legislation, with interested groups and individuals given an opportunity to attend and to participate in public hearings, not behind closed doors as in previous Assemblies. They will recall that this was the term when they finally saw the long-awaited passage of access to information and protection of privacy legislation; certainly a goal, I believe, to which you contributed greatly during the time you sat as an ordinary Member. They will also recall the Members of this Assembly took great strides in adopting a code of conduct and making a declaration of zero tolerance for violence. They'll remember the feeling of satisfaction when we finally moved to this new home in this building and of significant changes. However, I did want to address that further on in my reply.

So, Mr. Speaker, when northerners look back on the 12th Assembly, they'll remember some of these positive and significant accomplishments that we have made. These are accomplishments which reflect the continuing political evolution of the Northwest Territories, and they are achievements in which I believe all Members can take some pride.

At the same time, though, people will also remember the 12th Assembly for a number of other reasons. They'll recall the frequent turnover of Cabinet Ministers as one failure after another; note-passing incidents; misleading comments in the House; legal difficulties and so on which led to endless portfolio shuffles and the replacement of Ministers. Regrettably, they may even call some of the events that have arisen from the action of individual Ministers, and I have numbered some of them, at many times even within the Caucus. The people of the north, I know, will remember the growing fiscal deficit, the missed financial projection and the payroll tax that we have created. They may look at the last four years as a period in which the federal government and the rest of Canada began to lose some of its fascination with northern development, and they may wonder why more wasn't done to enhance our profile at the national level to make more progress in resolving fiscal irritants and federal funding arrangements or to contribute towards the development of aboriginal self-government.

The last four years certainly have been eventful ones, and I am certain that each Member of this House will have his or her own memories and recollections. For myself, Mr. Speaker, I know that I will remember this Assembly for a number of reasons, not the least which is the honour of being selected by my colleagues to serve this House as Speaker, because I know when I first assumed the Speaker's chair, many people expressed some surprise towards me and they basically asked the question, why would I be even remotely interested in removing myself from debates in the committees and from question period in order to become Speaker? Certainly, that question was never hard for me to answer. As we sit as Members, we know the parliamentary traditions, the rules and conventions and the progress of responsible government in the north became important, and I certainly recognize the importance of the Speaker's chair as one who guards these traditions and who guides the life of this House. You know as well as I know, Mr. Speaker, to be elected by one's peers as the person to take on those important responsibilities is something that is meaningful to any parliamentarian, and when this House expressed its confidence in my ability to serve as Speaker, I was certainly honoured. As well, I took some pride in the fact that this was the first time in Canadian history that an aboriginal woman had assumed Speaker's chair. I think that it was an important message for this House to send to the people of the Northwest Territories and to Canadians everywhere.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize what the Minister is stating; however, the reality is there are some boards in a deficit situation. I look particularly at my riding and how it has affected and placed serious concerns on how this will affect the quality of education to the students who are being taught. What measures are the Minister's department taking to alleviate this fear to ensure that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment is maintaining the same quality of education that it has granted over the years?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Since the Minister understands the concerns, can the Minister indicate whether or not his department has taken any measures to address these concerns that have been expressed by many of the schools across the territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, when Members reviewed the budget of the education boards earlier this year, it appeared on the surface that the budgets were essentially the same as for previous years. However, on closer examination, there were two factors which affect the real impact on school programs. Hidden in the budget are the reductions of 2.5 per cent of the budget and increases for forced growth. This means that for about the same dollars as last year, boards were dealing with more children, and there must be a negative impact on school programs when schools were asked to do more for less. In effect, the dollars per student have been cut, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the Minister if he can explain how the different boards are dealing with these cuts to dollars per student in their budgets. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism what progress he has made with respect to the development of an agricultural policy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to ask legal counsel for clarification. The Minister indicated it's not proper language. As Members, we don't run to legal counsel every time we want to change a clause in a bill or we want to propose an amendment. That's what we have the resources here for. So, the ordinary Members are at a disadvantage when we compare the resources the Minister has. I don't appreciate the remarks, that this isn't the proper language. It still gets my intent and my purpose across in proposing this clause.

I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, if we can ask legal counsel what the legal wording would be to reflect the intent of this clause? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's not my intention to indicate that any aboriginal language is of lesser importance than English or French, but the reality is that in the school system, it is. I don't see this government and the Department of Education taking any steps to enhance official languages and the aboriginal languages.

For example, in my community, we've had a difficult time getting a Cree teacher, let alone the department going out and making sure other classes were stopped until they could obtain a Cree teacher. There was no such effort like that. Things went on as they were and, as a result, this past year there hasn't been a Cree teacher available, probably because of the criteria requested by the department.

What I am asking in this motion is that if the department wants to make a sincere effort to address aboriginal languages as official languages in the school system, then teachers shouldn't have to be certified if they have the knowledge available, particularly if they are not elders. There are a lot of dynamic individuals who can teach aboriginal languages in schools, but unfortunately, do not have the proper certification. These are the type of people who we are trying to capture.

So I don't think the Minister should indicate that you are making this less than the languages of English and French. If that's the way he feels, then that's how his department is addressing it, because it certainly hasn't been enhanced. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, thank you. This motion would allow people in the community who have special language skills and knowledge to be employed and to pass those skills along, despite the fact that they may not have any formal teaching education or credentials.

Elders have significant knowledge, which is otherwise unavailable to the school. However, this is not to be designated only for elders. I recognize that there is a section in the clause that allows elders to teach. However, in my riding, for example, the Chipewyan language is a dying language. In the event that you do not have anyone with a formal teaching degree but someone who has enough knowledge of the Chipewyan language to be able to teach a class, this would allow them to fit within this category in this clause, without having to be an elder. Thank you.