Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) What I would like to say today is on our land, the Dene land, there was an election for the chief and band council. This is happening in a lot of communities. Whoever wants to be a chief, there is a lot of work for them. It's hard work to hold the office of chief. Being a chief is hard work. Every day they work for almost 24 hours. It is a lot of work and, on top of that, when there is a shortage of funding, it makes it even harder.
Also, being a chief, they work for the betterment of their people. This is what I would like to say.
The reason I am saying this is that yesterday in Fort Simpson there was an election for the chief and council. As a result, Herb Norwegian is the chief again. On the council is Mary Cazon, Cheryl Cli, Fred Deneyoua, Hazel Isiah, Loyal Letcher, Anita Villeneuve, and Jonas Antoine. There are the people who were elected during the treaty days. During the treaty days, there was also an election for chief and band council. There were two other people who ran for chief. I would also like to thank those two. When we put our names forward for important positions like this, we are doing this for the betterment of our people. If they work well with the new chief, the whole community will benefit as a result. Also, the people who sat as chief and council in the past, I would like to say a big thanks to them. When we are in those positions, we are working for the betterment of our people. Today, with the different system of governments, when people are running for chief it is hard work. Thank you.