This week the newly elected members of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly selected their government leader and cabinet. Of the eight-member cabinet, four are from the Eastern Arctic and four are from the west. There is one female, and there is Inuit, Dene, and Métis representation in the cabinet.
Congratulations to veteran MLA and former cabinet minister Don Morin as the new premier of the Northwest Territories. I congratulate as well John Todd, Kelvin Ng, Manitok Thompson, Goo Arlooktoo, Jim Antoine, Charles Dent, and Stephen Kakfwi as new cabinet ministers.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I wish the new territorial government well. There are many challenges ahead of us leading up to the division of the territories in 1999. We look forward to working closely and co-operatively with the new government.