Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize those GNWT employees who were recently honoured at a long-service ceremony held here in the great hall. The ceremony was presided over by the Honourable John Pollard, the chairman of the Financial Management Board. It was attended by myself and my colleagues, Mr. Dent, Mr. Whitford, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Zoe.
Mr. Speaker, residents of the Northwest Territories owe a great deal to the dedication, hard work and loyalty those individuals who have served 15, 20 and 25 years and all the people that they represent. They've been part of profound change here in the Northwest Territories. We've evolved from the days when Commissioner Stu Hodgson called all the shots, to today, when we have a fully-elected Legislative Assembly where the Cabinet calls many of the shots.
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We now have strong aboriginal organizations, strong regions, many claims have been settled and more will be settled on the horizon. We're dealing with self-government issues, we're dealing with treaty rights, and Nunavut will be created in 1999. Those people who have been here for the last 25 years have been part of these tremendous changes, and I would like to name them for the record, Mr. Speaker. Barbara Mills, Bernie Straker, Jean Grimard, Carole Lane, Carolyn McCabe, Mary Beauchamp, Blair Dunbar, Phyllis Sartor, Roland Gosselin and Eric Smith.
Mr. Speaker, today and in the past, civil servants have been criticized by many people in our society. I think the criticism wasn't fair and every day continues to be less fair. We're asking these civil servants to do more and more with less and less. They are under increasing pressure to do the sorts of things we feel are important to serve the people of the Northwest Territories. And any of us who have worked in this
system know how important those dedicated, loyal civil servants are to us.
So, Mr. Speaker, we owe a large debt of gratitude to those professional civil servants who have served us so well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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