Bob McLeod

I believe we should do that. I think the way we started this 17th Assembly where we, all 19 of us, sat with Aboriginal governments I think showed that we can work together on that basis. I think for major issues we should meet as Caucus to discuss. I think in November we’re going to get together for two weeks to set the strategic direction for this government and also to finalize or formalize our vision and goals and objectives for the next four years, and our priorities. I think it’s very important for us to work as a Caucus together.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m anticipating that once we assign portfolios, that we’ll also be providing mandate letters to each of the Ministers and that will be reflected in the business planning process that we do through this Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the grand chief of the Dehcho First Nation, Mr. Sam Gargan. We had a very good meeting this morning and we were both senior boys at Lapointe Hall at one time.

Thank you. I had the opportunity to either meet or call most of the leaders, and most of them are still in a positive frame, and they’re willing to continue to have discussions on how to find ways to work together and to see if we can set up a process and define common ground. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today, on behalf of all members of Cabinet, to once again congratulate and thank all Members of this House. We are grateful for and humbled by your support, and we pledge to work hard, in cooperation with all Members, in the service of all the people and communities of the Northwest Territories.

Each of us elected to this Assembly recognizes that our territory is one of immense potential and that realizing even a share of that potential can mean a vibrant and prosperous future for our people.

Beyond the immediate challenges of housing, infrastructure, the economy and health...

Thank you. Right now in our discussions with Aboriginal governments, we’re keeping all our options open, and at the appropriate time we will have that discussion, and if it would facilitate the process, we would be quite prepared to do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is our intention to work with the Aboriginal leaders to find some common ground and at that point they’ll look at timelines. Thank you.

Most of my colleagues that have been here before have been to all 33 communities or most of the 33 communities. I like to travel to the communities and we’ll all do everything as humanly possible to get to the communities as many times as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I had a very good discussion with Minister Duncan and I told him about how we, as a Caucus, had met with the Aboriginal governments, and that I had been on the phone talking to the majority of the Aboriginal government leaders and it was my intention to talk to all of them either by today or early next week. He indicated that he was prepared to come north and to meet with the Aboriginal leaders at some appropriate time in the future, so I believe that it is his intention to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We can develop guidelines. I think that if we commit to only going to a region when you can go to every community in the region, I think it would detract from the ability for Ministers or myself to go into a region. A lot of times you only have a day or two days there if you go into a region. If you commit, let’s say, going to the Sahtu and going to all five communities and if you have to spend six days or block off six days to be able to go there, a lot of times it’s very hard to find a block of six days to go into a region.

I think that we could agree to a guideline, but to be able to commit...