Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thought I would take advantage of the Member for Natilikmiot getting us back to Members' statements to make a statement. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Members from Yellowknife and all the people of Yellowknife, I would like to welcome the participants to this weekend's super soccer tournament in Yellowknife.
--- Applause
This tournament kicks off tonight and runs through the weekend, until Sunday. There are teams representing 17 communities from across the Territories participating in this tournament; teams, in fact, from all regions of the Northwest Territories. By my quick, unofficial count, there are teams from constituencies of at least 17 Members of this House here for the tournament. In all, there will be 144 teams participating in the tournament, with over 1,400 participants.
I think this is an amazing event and it shows that indoor soccer has become one of the biggest sports in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, in order to participate in this tournament, all of the participants must be attending school. As you might expect, in order to carry off this tournament, all of the gymnasiums in Yellowknife will have to be used for the competition.
The opening ceremonies tonight will feature a welcoming speech by the Premier and by the Honourable Manitok Thompson. I will be there, as well, and at the closing ceremonies, our MP, Ethel Blondin-Andrew, will be participating on Sunday. I am sure that all of the Members will take the opportunity, if they're in town this weekend, to get out and cheer on the teams, especially the teams from their home communities. I'm sure that this promises to be a good weekend for soccer, and I'm sure that we'll see good sportsmanship from all.
I know that all Members would like to join me in wishing all of the teams the best of luck. I know that the Member for Yellowknife North has a vested interest because he tells me that his son, Cody, will be playing for the Weledeh team this weekend. I would like to ask all Members to join me in welcoming these players to Yellowknife and to get out and see them this weekend as they play. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--- Applause