Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today I would like to speak on a matter that will soon be coming up here in Yellowknife. Recently, I listened to an interview on the radio with an NWT dog musher by the name of Dave Olsen. This was prior to the start of the 1,500 mile Iditarod race in Alaska. It seems that certain animal rights groups are trying to stop events such as the Iditarod, Yukon Quest -- and, no doubt, they will be looking at us shortly -- claiming that this is cruel and mistreating animals, and that they are using animals for the amusement of men.
In the interview, Mr. Olsen, who raises dogs for a living, expressed the sentiments of the dog mushers well, people I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years who raise dogs, which are bred and born for racing, they are raised and trained with care and affection, and they work well with their trainers, not unlike any other show dog or cat that they have in the south. For these dogs, that is their purpose in life and they are treated, in my opinion, with all the care they need.
Madam Speaker, I have been associated with the Yellowknife Rotary Club for a good number of years. The Yellowknife Rotary Club sponsored the 150 mile Canadian championship dog race here on Yellowknife Bay. It's over a three day period of 50 miles each day. I have yet to see, in the ten years that I've been working on that dog race, closely associated with the mushers, cruelty to animals out there on the ice or anywhere, as a matter of fact, in the handling area. They are groomed, they are fed, they are watered. Even out on the trail they are petted. They work hard.
May I seek unanimous consent to conclude?