Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it is with pride that I rise today to inform this House and the public that on August 22nd of this year I was granted a Queen's pardon for all of my past transgressions.
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What this means, Madam Speaker, is that outside of the run-ins with buffalo and highway patrol, I have been on good behaviour for over 10 years. Madam Speaker, I can put my good behaviour over the last 10 years down to the fact that I am no longer young and foolish. No longer young anyway.
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And perhaps a bit more mature. Madam Speaker, as you and everyone in this House knows, persons in the public eye are subject to more scrutiny than the average Joe Public. You have to watch what you say and do all the time. I have definitely learned my lesson in that capacity.
The reason, Madam Speaker, that I chose to get up and make this announcement was to encourage other people to take charge of their lives. The process of getting a pardon is not too difficult. What is required is that a person be of good behaviour with no criminal convictions for a period of five years.
However, Madam Speaker, I must warn the public that the process itself can take one to two years from initial application to the granting of a pardon. About 25 years ago, I did some pretty stupid things and I would like to state for the record, Madam Speaker, that even though I am not obliged, I will be making restitutions to the people I have wronged. If I can change, I am sure that everyone else who makes an honest effort can also.
The Northwest Territories and its people have always been famous for giving a person a second chance. All you have to do, Madam Speaker, is take advantage of it. Mahsi cho.
---Applause