Thank you, Madam Speaker. I wanted to make a statement in recognition of national alcohol and drug awareness week. In 1986 I made a decision to go and seek some help to quit drinking and it has now been eight and a half years since I made the decision and the commitment. It has been one of the best decisions of my life, on a personal level. I can see, from a health point of view, that it has been a positive decision. I see from a mental and family perspective that it has been good for myself, my children and my wife. It has been a good decision for my work and my capacity for work. My capacity to deal with my constituents and the general public has been enhanced in many, many ways.

I want to share that with Members because we see many things that are committed by government and groups, as a collective, but in the end, it is the personal commitment that makes the difference. Having said that, after eight and a half years, with seven years of that as an MLA serving the public, I find I have recently decided that what I also need now is help to deal with stress and anger management. That is something that is taxing me to my ultimate limit. I am hoping to find something to help me deal with the kind of stress I deal with on a daily basis, and to deal with the way that anger surrounds me, and surrounds all of us in our work and at the community level.

I find that it is not so easy and I may need this program a lot more as a result of trying to find it, trying to design and find something that will accommodate me, than I originally did. I say that because today I am feeling particularly frustrated with the lack of progress to find something I can do. But, I will not give up on it. I think I have to find something like that before I really do something. Thank you.

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