Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Picco.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Congratulation also to Mr. Roland and Mr. Antoine, who are very good hockey players. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Legislative Assembly for their support and help over the past three years and I will try to name some of them: Cheryl Voytilla, Cheryl Menard, the research staff, security, Mr. Myles Moreside, Mr. Anderson, Ronna, of course Mr. Hamilton, Doug and Dave, our capable committee clerks, and I guess all the other staff here in the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Speaker, that wonderful lady upstairs who works very hard for all Members, Ms. Betty Low, and her partner,

--Applause

Verna Currimbhoy. Over the past three years, Mr. Speaker, I have made some good friends here in this Assembly and probably ruffled a few feathers along the way. Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, was my son Wally's tenth birthday. It was the third birthday of Wally's that I have missed since coming to this Legislative Assembly. Sometimes politics seems to be a blood sport and over the last several weeks, I think it is fair to say that anxiety and stress were certainly evident here.

As we move into the Christmas season and new beginnings for many of us, I would like to wish all Members a safe and a happy Christmas, and take this opportunity to thank the people of Iqaluit for their support and wish Iqaluit, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories a safe and happy Christmas. Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my wife who is home right now with our three children and our foster child. Since October 25th, I have been home five days, Mr. Speaker. As Mr. Miltenberger said, that is a long time. Sometimes when you are away from home, you lose perspective and you get trapped and caught up in this crazy place, in this Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, my wife has been father and mother for the last three years and it has not been easy for her. Mr. Speaker, she will be in today, from Iqaluit with our baby, Pukkak, so I am sure Wal-mart, Saan's, and the other stores are going to be quite happy and so will I. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause

Thank you. Members' statements. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Ng.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, I also would like to join other Members in congratulating the Premier-elect, Mr. Antoine, and Cabinet Member-elect, Mr. Roland. I would also like to recognize and thank all the other candidates that did put their name forward for those positions. It gave us hard choices to make in that decision.

To my Nunavut colleagues, those that are seeking election to the first Nunavut Assembly, to those that have decided to retire or retire to move on to better things, I wish them all the best in the 1999 year. As this is the last sitting day that we have before Christmas, I would to say to my constituents, to all Northwest Territories residents, to my colleagues in this House, have a merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you.

--Applause

Members' statements. Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Krutko.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to, like my colleague, congratulate Premier-elect, Mr. Antoine on behalf of the Natilikmiot riding and Mr. Roland, the

new Minister, on behalf of Natilikmiot people. Mr. Speaker, I would like to send Christmas greetings to my colleagues here especially you, Mr. Speaker, and the staff of the Legislature. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to send Christmas greetings to the people of Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Pelly Bay and my former home, Repulse Bay. Mr. Speaker, at this time I would also like to send Christmas greetings to First Air, Air Canada, Canadian Air and I would also to say that young people of Pelly Bay, Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak always welcome apples and oranges from First Air, Air Canada and other airlines. Thank you.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ningark. Members' statements. Mr. Todd.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these have been trying times and we have had our share of it the last two weeks. I want to first of all congratulate Mr. Antoine and Mr. Roland. I want to remind everybody today that with the sudden tragic death of David Tagoona from Baker Lake and my good friend, Jon Lindell, that their funeral will be held on Saturday. I want to publicly say today to Nancy and to the Tagoona family how sorry I am for their tragic loss of both these two guys. I understand.

Thank you, Mr. Todd. I recognize the difficulty. Members' statements. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start off by congratulating Mr. Antoine and Mr. Roland in their successful bids for election yesterday to their respective positions. To the people who were not successful, including myself, better luck next time.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to reflect a little bit about our terms here. Mr. Speaker, it was at times very difficult and at other times exciting and a good place to be. Some of the difficulties that I have had, of course, I lost an uncle, my wife also lost an uncle and very recently now we have two uncles that are seriously ill with cancer. Other than personal challenges, we, as a legislature, had to face severe challenges as well that no other Assembly has had to face. I would think, our budget was slashed by 20 percent. We had to cut programs and services. We had to lay off countless civil servants. We had to deal with creating two new territories. We tried to agree on a constitution for the west. Mr. Speaker, through all of this I am glad that I was here before division. I am glad I was able to experience this with my eastern colleagues, to learn how they think and feel about things and to benefit from their experiences and wisdom. Mr. Speaker, when I look back today I wonder who else could have stayed the course to balance the budget other than Mr. Todd?

--Applause

Thank God, he has a thick skin. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member for Yellowknife North is seeking unanimous consent to continue his statement. Do we have any nays? Mr. Erasmus, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Mr. Ningark for his wisdom and extremely balanced and fair views in our committee. I must say that I learned a lot from him. Now I had the pleasure to watch a very young Mr. Arlooktoo grow by leaps and bounds and I always appreciated his fairness and his frankness in committees. Of course, Mr. Ng is also very fair and level-headed and always open to discuss problems and their solutions. Sometimes he even took a little of our advice. Mr. Picco, of course, Mr. Speaker, he brought liveliness, wit and charm to this House and to our committee meetings. We all like to tease him, but I am sure I speak for all when I say we appreciate you, Ed. Ms. Thompson, I would like to thank you for nominating me. I appreciated our numerous talks and discussions about aboriginal culture and customs. I very much appreciated her honesty, friendship and her funny notes. I do not have time to discuss all the Members, but I would like to thank all the eastern Members for their contributions.

--Applause

Thank you, Mr. Erasmus. I will be happy to receive the calendar. Members' statements. Mr. Ootes.

The Member for Yellowknife Centre is seeking unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Do I have any nays? Mr. Ootes, you have unanimous consent.

Thank you. Members' statements. Mr. Dent.