Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very honoured today, Mr. Speaker. I would like to make a brief comment on the successful land claim vote held recently in the eastern Arctic. Almost 70 per cent of the eligible voters voted "yes" in favour of the land claim developed and negotiated for everyone by the T.F.N. (translation ends)

When I went to school, Mr. Speaker, I had to stay with my teacher because my parents were living at the outpost camp. My teacher encouraged me to visit the Hudson Bay manager so that I could learn different English accents. During my visit with the Hudson Bay manager to learn his accent, who was Scottish, a young boy of 14 came by dog team from his father's outpost camp to get tea, sugar and tobacco on credit to tide them over until they got more foxes to trade. Without saying anything or acknowledging his presence, although the Bay manager spoke Inuktitut fluently, he filled the tobacco can a quarter full with loose leaf tea and put some cigarette butts into a used envelope and ordered him in Inuktitut to leave for home. Although he had been travelling most of the day, he nodded his head to signal obedience and left to travel back to his camp, a journey that would take him most of the night. I then left his house with a lump in my throat and declared that I would study English very hard so that I could represent my people in determining our desired destiny. Mr. Speaker, that was as recent as the winter of 1960. With the successful ratification vote of the Nunavut land claims agreement, I feel ready and willing to work to make life more rewarding for people like that young man, who was 14, at the time.