Thank you, colleagues. It is very rare that I ask to have an extension. Madam Speaker, I have owned several old vehicles. It is a frightening thing to see a mechanic turn on the ignition, lift the hood of the old car, start shaking his head and start making loud, long, moaning noises. Your heart begins to have a terrible, sinking feeling. You don't really want to hear the news because you know it's going to be bad.
Madam Speaker, reporters, for all their training, don't look under the hood and that's why they don't know what has to be fixed. Madam Speaker, when your vehicle is in bad shape, you don't wait until 1999 to take it into the garage. Madam Speaker, when your vehicle is driving all over the road, you don't drive very far and you would be better leaving it parked in your driveway. You wouldn't want to end up in a ditch or breaking down in the middle of nowhere at 40 degrees below zero.
Madam Speaker, the fear I have is that a final trip to the wrecking yard may not be very far away, unless we do something. I don't agree with the editorial in the Yellowknifer. The staff should look through past editions of the local newspapers and make a list of all the things they have found wrong with the way we have operated in this Legislative Assembly over the last several years. Better still, they had better ask the public, because that's not the story I'm hearing when I talk to my constituents. Thank you.
---Applause