Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker (Translation) I will be speaking in my language today. There was a Canada wide election yesterday. Ethel Blondin-Andrew was elected for the western Arctic and I am thankful for that. Ethel is from Tulita. She understands the language of the Dene people. She has been in Parliament for quite a few years so she knows how to represent the people from the western Arctic.

There are a lot of difficult things that are in store for us. We will be working on self-government. There are the land claims that still have to be dealt with and also self-government. There are still a lot of these important issues that we have to work on. The election is over. We have somebody in place that we have elected. If we start working together on the right track right from the beginning, we would benefit a lot from it. In 1979 I was elected Chief. What people had said at the time was that there should be some people to represent the native people in the Legislative Assembly and also in Parliament. Today, it seems that their wishes have come true. I would like to say how thankful I am and I would like to congratulate Ethel on her election yesterday. Thank you. (Translation ends)

-- Applause