Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I am not really sure what the Premier said. I heard the part about spending a lot of money. I guess they are going to get more legal advice. Anyway, I hope it is not equivalent to the legal advice that said that the Summit members would be able to get leave to appeal, because that was dead wrong.

On the spending of money, I do not imagine that this government would not be able to spend any money, because they would have to make legal presentations if this was going to proceed. I suspect they would anyway because they have a fiduciary obligation to protect the interests of aboriginal people, and they could not leave such a ruling that is so -- I cannot find the right word. It is not really clear, I guess. It is not clearly worded. It is an obligation on this government to clarify this issue because we do have a fiduciary obligation to protect the interests of aboriginal people. We cannot allow future lower courts to follow an improper interpretation of Justice de Weerdt's comments, if it is improper. It is very easy to take it that way, that those sections should not be read together. I cannot say that voting in favour of this motion would not incur money, because I do not see how they could do it unless they urge the federal government to do it, but then they did not make any presentation themselves. I would expect that we would make a presentation but it would likely cost money. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam Chairperson, in the recent court case brought forward by the Friends of Democracy, Justice de Weerdt made a comment -- I do not have it here -- which inferred that in dealing with or defining Charter rights, they

did not have to be read in concert with section 25 of the Canadian Charter and section 35 of the Constitution Act. This is simply not the proper way to look at the Charter and the Constitution. While this might not be what he meant, it may be that he meant that in this instance he had not been supplied with enough information or evidence that this should apply. It may be left to interpretation that the Charter sections, like the right to vote and those types of things, are not to be read together with section 25 and section 35. We feel that it is very important for this to be clarified, and since the government did not appeal Justice de Weerdt's decision, they have no right to appeal to the Supreme Court in order to clarify this particular area. They would have to ask for a legal reference, and the only way it can be done is through the federal government. This government would have to ask the federal government to do it. This is what this is trying to do. This is trying to clarify this area of the law in the Northwest Territories and probably all over Canada, because I do not know if there have been any Supreme Court of Canada decisions exactly on this point.

Madam Chairperson, this is the intent of this motion. This was one of the large fears or a great deal of the impetus, I think, in appealing Justice de Weerdt's decision as well by the Aboriginal Summit members who did. I think that people are afraid that this particular court case will sit there, and whether or not this is what Justice de Weerdt intended, it is open for interpretation the way I explained. We would like to have that clarified. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories urge the federal government to commence a legal reference without delay before the Supreme Court of Canada;

And further, that the court be requested to clarify the interpretation of section 25 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, in relation to other provisions of the Charter and the Constitution of Canada, and in particular, section 3 of the Charter;

And furthermore that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide the Standing Committee on Government Operations with a proposed question to be provided to the federal government by October 1, 1999.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The committee had made a recommendation on page 15, section 11.6, in our report that Bill 15 be amended to provide for a sunset clause that would see the 19 Member Legislature repealed upon dissolution of the 14th Assembly. Rather than having a motion at this time to effect this recommendation, we will wait until the clause by clause consideration of Bill 15, at which time a motion to amend the bill to achieve this will be moved. I mention this simply to clarify the process that we intend to follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The government and the aboriginal governments had, some time ago, wanted to develop a political accord along with the federal government. We actually passed a motion in this House that this should occur. It was supposed to have been completed by now, but for one reason or another, one of them being, of course, that the federal government said that they did not want to be involved. This has not occurred to date. I was supposed to be involved in negotiating, helping to put together a political accord, but I have come to realize that there is very little sense for me to be involved in this because there does not seem to be the will, on the other side of the table, other side of the hall here, to complete this. There has been very little support provided to the Aboriginal Summit to get this done. We have only had one meeting and really, the government has kind of taken off on their own, so they may as well continue on their own.

It is imperative that a protocol be developed and for that reason, we are making this motion. The protocol is needed to go along with Bill 15, although, of course, it is not a companion document, but it should go almost hand in hand so that there is some method for the aboriginal governments to work with this government on policies and various issues like that. But the problem is that there does not seem to be a clear plan or a clear timeline in which to achieve this political accord. If there is, we have not been provided with it. What we are asking now is that the government actually develop a work plan with clear timelines and to provide us with that by September 1st so that we can see what is being done and what is being proposed to be done. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories develop a work plan with clear timelines of the negotiation of a political accord with NWT aboriginal governments for review by the Standing Committee on Government Operations by September 1st, 1999.

Thank you. Madam Chairperson, I was not going to make general comments other than my introductory remarks. However, since the process of the consultation was brought up, I feel I have to comment as well. This whole process with Bill 15, the court case by the Friends of Democracy which compelled the government to come forward with Bill 15, in order to comply with the 25 percent variance, has created tremendous animosity from the people living in the smaller communities towards the larger communities and, in particular, to the community of Yellowknife, in which I reside. Reflecting back on my campaign four years ago, people commented to me that they were afraid that Yellowknife would become an island by itself, that with constitutional development and whatnot, Yellowknife would become isolated from the rest of the communities. I saw this process bringing that isolation further. Having been born and raised in the Northwest Territories, not planning on going to retire in Kelowna or someplace like that, I felt it would be disrespectful of myself not to go to the smaller communities to listen to the people. I am glad I went. I know it was not a popular thing to do. There has been a lot of press about how it is a junket and a waste of money, all the rest of that. But to the 30 other communities out there who are not getting MLAs are very, very concerned.

It is not a matter of aboriginal people versus non-aboriginal people. In the communities that we went to that were not receiving more MLAs, particularly in Fort Smith and Fort Simpson, there were a great deal of non-aboriginal people who made presentations as well. They are just as concerned as the aboriginal people. They are very concerned that their voices will no longer be heard, that the scarce resources will not be fairly distributed anymore, that the larger communities will totally dominate this Legislative Assembly and the money, the budget that the Legislative Assembly gets.

I think it has to be stated as well that we heard in those communities that the people from the larger centres from the committee not coming to the smaller communities to hear their concerns was a reflection, a justification of their fear, because it was showing their contempt for the smaller communities in not even bothering to come and listen. That is what we heard out there. As I say, I think for me it was good to go, because just listening to and hearing aboriginal leaders saying that they did not like this -- we get that all the time. People say, well, that is Gary Bohnet, that is George Kurszewski, of course he is going to say that. But when we went there, we heard the ordinary people expressing their fears of what may happen in the future. We heard from aboriginal as well as non-aboriginal people. I think that while there may have been some work done in the past, there was never this situation before that was being discussed. People were more concentrated in their comments on this particular issue.

With that, Madam Chairperson, I must say that I am glad to hear that the Cabinet agrees with a lot of our recommendations, and I hope that they are going to implement them. There has been a great deal of animosity created towards Yellowknife in particular, not only by Bill 15, as I say, but by the Friends of Democracy's court case, to begin with. Living in Yellowknife, I do not want to be living on an island myself. I certainly hope that we can do the few things that we have suggested to bring some measure of relief, some measure of comfort to the smaller communities, to the people living in the regions out there who are very, very frightened by this bill that we are going to pass in the next little while. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. As you are aware, yesterday the Standing Committee on Government Operations released its report on Bill 15, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, following public hearings in several communities in the NWT. You all heard what the committee is recommending and you all have a copy of the report so I will not take any time today restating the committee's findings and the rationale for our recommendations.

However, I just wanted to comment briefly on this difficult and emotional issue. The committee recognizes that we have to find a solution -- the legal constraints require us to proceed within the parameters of the September 1st deadline and the Supreme Court decision. We know we need a solution that is not divisive and does not create an atmosphere that pits rural communities against urban communities.

All Members of the Legislature now have a responsibility to act in a manner that brings Northerners together. We must not further divide our peoples and our communities. We ask all Members to approach the debate on our motions with open minds. Nation building is never an easy process but we know that Members are up to the task.

With that, Madam Chairperson, my colleagues and I are prepared to hear general comments on our report. We will attempt to answer any questions Members may have or provide additional clarification if it is required. At the appropriate time we will introduce motions to effect the recommendations that are proposed in the report. As well, some of the Members might be making general comments. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, July 30th, 1999, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable for Yellowknife Frame Lake, that this Legislative Assembly requests that the Governor-in-Council dissolve the 13th Legislative Assembly by October 21st, 1999, to permit a general election for the 14th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories to be held on December 6th, 1999. Thank you.

--Applause