Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) I congratulate you on being our Speaker. You have been an ordinary Member for quite a long time and you know what the Legislative Assembly is all about. I know you will make a good Speaker. (Translation ends)
Jeannie Marie-Jewell was a good Speaker for us during her term. She did a very excellent job. I would like to thank her. Mahsi.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to address an issue that has been publicized lately; namely, the fact that the Government of the Northwest Territories, through Economic Development and Tourism, has filed a lawsuit against Tagaah Ltd., a company owned and controlled by myself and my wife; and, against us personally as guarantors of a loan guaranteed by Economic Development and Tourism. We all know MLAs who own businesses during their term.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to make it very clear to this House and to all Members that my business interest, including the fact that I have a loan with Economic Development and Tourism, has always been disclosed in my annual conflict of interest filings.
Further, as I discussed in the press release yesterday, we have been attempting to sell the business to discharge this loan for a considerable period of time. However, this has been delayed due to difficulties relating to the land and placement of the gas station. Once this sale is completed, this situation will be cleared up, hopefully without any further problems.
Mr. Speaker, for the record, I would like to assure Members that I will be refraining from discussing matters pertaining to the Department of Economic Development and Tourism in their role as a lender; I repeat, as a lender.
Additionally, I will be refraining from discussing matters dealing with the Northwest Territories Business Credit Corporation until such time as the lawsuit has been settled. This restraint applies to the House as well as to matters being discussed in the Standing Committee on Finance. This will be very unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, because my constituents are very interested in economic development with oil and gas exploration, mining possibilities, forestry development, tourism and a lot of small business development. I would like to apologize to my constituents for this unfortunate predicament, but this situation is being cleared up at the present time, and hopefully soon I will be participating fully in this House to discuss these issues. Mahsi.
---Applause