Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to proceed with my motion today which would refer the Report of the Commission on MLA Compensation to Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, March 22, 1996, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Tabled Document 1-13(3), titled Report of the Commission on MLA Compensation, be moved into committee of whole for discussion.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time, I will be seeking unanimous consent to proceed with this motion today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize in the gallery, Mr. Dwayne Woodward, a fine hockey player from Fort Smith who also happens to be my constituency assistant, and hopefully will assist us on Friday as we bring honour back to the Assembly as we have our yearly hockey game. Thank you.

--- Applause

Oh, thank you.

---Laughter

"essential services" means services that are necessary to ensure a continuation of minimal service

(a) to protect the health and safety of the public,

(b) to prevent destruction or serious deterioration of machinery, equipment or premises, or

(c) to prevent disruption of the courts,

and includes services provided by the most senior employee at each power plant who has responsibility for the on-site operation of the plant.

(b) striking out "and" at the end of proposed paragraph 41.02(2)(d) of the English version;

(c) striking out the period at the end of the proposed paragraph 41.02(2)(e) and by substituting ";and"; and

(d) adding the following after proposed paragraphs 41.02(2)(e):

(f) setting out a protocol to deal with unanticipated emergency situations.

Mr. Chairman, I apologize for the faux pas. I move that clause 5(1) of Bill 2 be amended by

(a) deleting proposed subsection 41.02(1) and by substituting the following: 41.02. (1) In this subsection,

"emergency situation" means an emergency as reasonably determined by the Minister; -- I am assuming that it isn't necessary to read the French. Oh, it is, wonderful.

--Interjection

Do I have to say it all over again?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to propose a motion to this clause. The motion I am going to be proposing amends proposed 41.02(1) so as to add "reasonably" to the definition of "emergency services." It also amends the definition of "essential service," so as to ensure that only those services that are necessary to enusre the continuation of minimal service are essential.

The motion also changes the wording in the clause on services to prevent danger to life, health or safety by deleting the word "life." Arguably, the word "life" does not add anything to the clause. All concerns are covered.

The amendment adds the services provided by the most senior employee at a power plant to the definition of "essential" which correlates with a later amendment removing them from the definition of "excluded employees."

Finally, this motion adds a new paragraph to the process surrounding making of the essential services agreement, so as to require the parties to reach an agreement on the protocol to deal with unanticipated emergency situations.

That clause 5(1) of Bill 2 be amended by

(a) deleting proposed subsection 41.02(1) and by substituting the following:

41.02...

(i) (h) or (c), or (ii) (e), or (f) in respect of the duties and pas. I move that clause 5(I) of Bill 2 be amended by responsibilities referred to in those paragraphs.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Since we all got elected back in October, we have been working together to come up with priorities, a direction and strategic objectives for this government, of which we are a part. So we have asked the Cabinet who we elected to do a job for us, to help put the financial house of this Government of the Northwest Territories in order. We can ascribe the blame for the deficit on previous governments if we wish, but it doesn't change the fact that we have inherited a situation and we knew we were going to do that when we ran for election.

I think it is up to this Assembly to acknowledge that we are part of this process. We have to, as part of this plan, give the tools to Cabinet to do the job. It has been very clear form the start that nobody wants to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the disadvantaged, the homeless, the unemployed, students and single mothers. It has also been very clear by comments made in this House by many people, including the Premier, that no one group is going to be singled out. We have to share the pain.

If we don't have our financial house in order, then all our good intentions, all our programs and plans are nothing but paper and rhetoric. The key, to me and to a lot of people whose comments I have heard around this table, is that we want to maintain services to the people in the communities, the people we represent and the people who put us here and the people who are relying on us to keep the service and the government running.

I also see this legislation as a way to avoid massive lay-offs. If we had no alternative than to cut program dollars, by extension, to me, we are cutting staff. Massive lay-offs do nothing for the territory. It cripples the economy. The effect across the Territory would be catastrophic. I don't think anyone wants that.

Since I was elected, and especially since December, I have been pushing for money to be cut from all aspects of the budget. I have no problems saying this publicly because I have been saying it in my constituency. I thought $40 million out of the pay and benefits envelope of $455 million was not unreasonable. Take money from capital and take it from programs. We all have to share the pain. I want the people where I live and where they live across the North to be able to count on health services, social services, education, sewer and water; all the things that people have come to require.

Mr. Chairman, I have no problem supporting this legislation. We have been on the fast track since we were elected. We have made significant changes to how this government runs, We have changed the process. We have gone back to a consensus style of government which I think is long overdue. We have been pressed for time. That is unfortunate, but I don't think it can be avoided. We have made a reasonable attempt to get required input. I am satisfied that while it isn't perfect, it is enough of a direction and enough time for me to go forward. As I have indicated in Caucus, I will go anywhere to talk about what we are doing as a government, the decisions we make and the direction taken in Caucus.

I will be, at the end of the day when these amendments are made, supporting this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to request unanimous consent to waive Rule 70(5) to have Bill 2 ordered into Committee of the Whole for today.