Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a known fact and an embarrassing truth that our legislature is the only jurisdiction in Canada without representation of women in Cabinet. Our sister territory, Nunavut, has really shown us how they can do much better in this regard and I’d like to congratulate them on having chosen two women Ministers in Cabinet; both of them in senior portfolios. Mr. Speaker, I understand fully that under our system of consensus government the Premier does not have full control over who gets to sit on Cabinet, but he does have the power and responsibility to take actions that would show that he does not support that and to show leadership of inclusion.

In recognizing that, I made a statement in the House on December 12th -- the day after the Cabinet was chosen -- putting the Premier and Cabinet on notice and challenging them to do what is within their power to take strong measures to improve this situation. I suggested to the Premier that in all important senior appointments of the government and boards, I expect to see an increased number of women and aboriginal peoples being selected.

Mr. Speaker, there are 13 departments and corporations that report directly to the legislature. Of those there are currently only two women deputy ministers. In the last legislature it had increased from one to two and at some point we had three. In this Legislature so far it remains at two. But in the last government, the secretary to Cabinet, the most senior deputy minister, was female and the principal secretary to Cabinet, the chief political advisor to Cabinet, was female for a significant period of its life.

Rather than improving on this score, Mr. Speaker, we have taken major steps backward. With the appointment of a male principal secretary and Cabinet secretary and shuffling of all male deputy ministers in different positions, we are now faced with the real possibility where not only will there be no women Ministers, but all of their key advisors in the room will be men also. I must say, Mr. Speaker, the Premier and Cabinet Ministers should be ashamed of creating and condoning this wall of male club at the top.

Mr. Speaker, for the mainstream male operators, it might seem quite normal to sit around the table where all the players are men. They might not even notice that something is amiss when this is happening.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

The Member is seeking unanimous consent conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent to conclude your statement.

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, for the mainstream male operators, it might seem quite normal to sit around the table where all the players are men. They might not even notice that something is amiss when this is happening. But I’m telling you this is not acceptable in the year 2004. I must say over and over again that we must have a government that reflects the face it serves. We expect the Premier and Cabinet to take intentional and deliberate actions to make sure this happens: that our decision-making body has real representation from the other gender and all of our different regions and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

I realize it has only been four months in the life of this government, but so far the ratio of all senior government and board appointments has been 100 percent male to zero percent female. This has to improve, Mr. Speaker, and the Premier and every Cabinet Minister sitting on that side has a collective responsibility to make it happen.

I want to put the Premier and Cabinet Ministers on further notice that I expect to see a marked improvement by the time we meet again in this House in May and June. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

----Applause