Mr. Speaker, the point was made last week by one of the Members that this Legislative Assembly is not bound by decisions or commitments made by previous Legislatures. I do not want to quibble about the point, but the fact is the last Legislature, in July of last year, through political agreement, made two motions. One motion committed and directed the Executive to set up a western constitutional commission and fund it appropriately. I think the funding came to about $1.7 million. This was in response to a request and discussions through a committee of western leaders, which included the Dene Nation, the Metis Association at that time, the Gwich'in Tribal Council, the Sahtu Tribal Council and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, as well as myself and another Member of the Legislative Assembly.

The agreement among MLAs was reached unofficially that this would be done, and the subsequent motion that was moved in this House dealt with the aspirations of people in the Eastern Arctic. It was moved by eastern MLAs, and was supported by everyone here, that there would be some public awareness campaign set up and appropriate money set aside for that to be carried out in the East, and that this would be co-ordinated through the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut's office and it would involve MLAs, to make sure that there is public involvement; and there is some implication that because it is public money, that there was some involvement by the Legislature. I think that money was set up to not exceed, totally -- this fiscal year it was about $134,000. 1 may not be exact on my figures, but it was not to total more than $250,000. That was the way that this Legislature and this government proceeded.

I raise that because I think it has to be understood that the way we have operated up until now -- and the Legislature is free to do what it wants -- is that money was sought by the different groups that worked with us on political and constitutional development. The general consensus of the aboriginal leaders and representatives of this Legislature and the previous government was to put the full allocation money, set aside for the West, into the work of the Western Constitutional Commission. In the East there was a lesser amount set aside to do the political awareness.

I say that because that is where the direction went, and if Members seek to request that additional moneys be allocated, they should at least understand the mechanism and the process we have used up until now to do that. So as a Minister, if I get sufficient direction, I would of course have to consider it and see if it would not upset the political understanding that I have with the other aboriginal leaders and organizations about how we allocate the resources in this exercise. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I understand it is going to be translated. As to exactly when it will be completed, I do not have the answer. It should be done as a priority by staff.

Mr. Speaker, I have no comforting words to offer, other than that I could take some personal interest in it; and if the MLA would advise me later on how I could make contact with the individual, I could be in a better position, I think, to provide some advice and maybe some positive remedies to the rather unfortunate record. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would

like to present the interim report of the special committee on constitutional reform. The special committee on constitutional reform was established to review federal, provincial, territorial and aboriginal proposals for constitutional reform and to make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly on national constitutional matters. On behalf of the special committee I would like to table our interim report to the Legislative Assembly. The report sets out five major issues which require close monitoring by the special committee and recommends objectives and principles to be pursued by the Government of the Northwest Territories in the current round of multilateral discussions.

While all proposed constitutional amendments will be monitored, five areas are particularly important to the Northwest Territories. Those five areas are:

1) territorial participation in all multilateral negotiations;

2) constitutional recognition of an inherent right to. aboriginal self-government;

3) the effects of the constitutional amending formula on the Territories;

4) the effects of the Canadian economic union proposals and the redistribution of federal and provincial responsibilities;

5) constitutional amendments relating to national institutions.

The interim report, Mr. Speaker, concludes with the following recommendations for the territorial role in the multilateral consultation process:

1) The Government of the Northwest Territories should ensure the participation of appropriate Ministers and officials throughout the multilateral consultation process.

2) Ministers and officials should, to the extent possible, ensure that the positions and principles outlined in this report are enunciated and that any draft legal text or consensus document is consistent with these principles and positions.

3) The Government of the Northwest Territories should report to the special committee and the Legislative Assembly on progress in multilateral consultations, as appropriate.

4) When a draft legal text of constitutional amendments has been made public, the Government of the Northwest Territories should table the draft text in this Assembly for consideration, together with such information and recommendations as may be appropriate.

5) The special committee should continue to monitor national constitutional reform issues and should develop and distribute, as soon as possible, a public information package relating to national constitutional reform.

Motion To Receive And Adopt Committee Report 9-12(2), Carried

Mr. Speaker, that concludes our report, and therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that the interim report of the special committee on constitutional reform be received by the Assembly and adopted.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to go back to Item 10.

Mr. Speaker, this is in response to a question asked by Mr. Pudlat on March 30th. The Department of Personnel will build no new staff housing units for the 1992-93 fiscal year. There are renovations planned for three units in Baker Lake, one unit in Fort McPherson, one in Igloolik and one unit in Rankin Inlet. A retrofit for one unit in Baker Lake is also planned.

Mr. Speaker, I have been informed that the teachers voted against a proposal for a negotiated collective agreement. The proposal was outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed off by the negotiators on March 6, 1992.

The president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association has requested that our negotiators get back to the bargaining table. He indicated a strong preference for

,negotiated agreement. I have agreed to his request. I feel that a negotiated agreement is in our mutual interest. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that if the federal government is unable or unwilling to provide the necessary additional costs to pay for the transitional costs plus the costs of setting up a separate territory in the East, I do not believe it would be realistic to suggest that somehow somebody else from somewhere will pay the cost.

Mr. Speaker, as a party with no money, they are not jumping up and down demanding to pay the bill. In fact, there has been no great deal of enthusiasm to do so. But on the other hand, I think all of us should recognize the tremendous steps taken by the federal government in recent years to show how seriously they take the question of division and the proposal by the TFN and residents of the Eastern Arctic to work toward the creation of Nunavut. I draw attention to the fact that the Prime Minister has made some mention of it. We have written letters to the Prime Minister; he has written back. The Minister of the federal government has signed the TFN agreement. That makes it really clear that we are all committed to negotiating and working out a process whereby Nunavut will be created. And to have a federal government make commitments like that, with largely unforeseen costs, I think is a significant achievement for those people who have been working all these years to work toward the realization of Nunavut. I believe it is a very serious proposal taken by the federal government, that they are willing to engage in this process even though they do not know exactly what the costs will be. But I would expect that as much as possible they will try to minimize the costs by looking at our own budget once the negotiations start. Especially if the plebiscite results in an affirmative vote.